Veronica Mars: Season Three
by DarlingVioletta777
Summary: This is ten 'episodes' of my version of season three. Started long before the actual season began. Veronica has gone to Hearst College and gets caught up in the Hearst rapist mystery. All main characters. No spoiler past the end of season two.
1. Tabula Rasa

_**Episode One: Tabula Rasa - Ensemble - 12**_  
**Title:** Season Three – Episode One: _**Tabula Rasa**_  
**Author:** fickledame  
**Rating:** There may be character death, bad language, dark themes and possibly sex all somewhere down the line.

**Characters:** All main cast.  
**Word Count:** Every episode will differ, but this one is 5420.  
**Summary:** This is the first episode in a planned ten episode season three. It's totally plotted out, and I planned to completely finish the whole thing before posting, but I'm afraid I can no longer resist.  
**Spoilers:** You should have seen season one and two. There are no spoilers for season three at all. If I happen to get anything right when the episodes start airing, it's entirely coincidental.  
**Thanks:** Gah, who didn't I rope into helping me with this? First of all, massive thanks go to skk670 who has helped me every step of the way with the plot and read over everything. Additional thanks go to veni, semby, moire2, marylane23 and takenwithyou. If I've forgotten anyone, I'm very sorry! Just let me know.  
**A/N:** Italics denote Veronica's voiceovers and the bold text is flashbacks.  
**A/N2:** Some formatting always goes wrong when I post. Sorry! I'm cursed.

Veronica squinted through her dark glasses at the four dorms, trying to remember which one was Wallace's. The large, square buildings reminded her of the blocks she used to play with when she was a kid. The four units were each painted a different primary colour and connected at the base to the main single-story dining hall. She threaded through the crowd of students moving in, almost tripping over a suitcase before coming to a complete halt. The large sign above the door announced it to be Enbom Hall. Apparently, John Enbom's father had some sort of precognitive ability and, years ago, donated millions of dollars to build the dorm. Lucky thing he did too, as John was somehow admitted with only a 2.0 GPA. She grimaced; it looked like class issues weren't just a high school thing.

Veronica sighed, using her campus map as a fan. The heat was unbearable, and was made worse with the crowds of people all trying to move in on the same day. She walked over to the doorway, where a group of people had gathered, blocking the way in.

"Excuse me," Veronica said, "can I get through there?" She waited for a response from one of them. One guy turned and stared at her blankly, while the others ignored her completely.

"Hey!" a sharp voice demanded. "Get out the way." The guys moved without a complaint and Veronica and the girl walked through.

"Thanks," Veronica said, turning to the young woman beside her who had two large boxes stacked on top of one another in her arms. "Here, let me help."

"Thanks, yourself," she replied gratefully, letting her take the top box. Her short hair was spiked up and a small black band held her bangs up from her forehead. Her clothes were colourful, matching the different colours in her hair. "Sometimes they just need a kick where the sun don't shine." They walked through the door and towards the stairs. "I'm Anna Parsons, by the way."

"Veronica Mars," Veronica introduced.

"Freshman?" Anna questioned.

"That obvious?" Veronica laughed, as they walked up the stairs.

"You have the wide-eyed, god-so-many-people look. You just need to yell at them, they won't remember you anyway," she shrugged. "Going to be living here?"

"Nope, I'm going to be a townie. I live in Neptune anyway, sadly. My best friend is moving in, thought I would give him a hand."

"Nice. Well, this is my room," Anna said, putting her box on the floor and fishing out her key. "Thanks for your help, and I'm sure I'll see you around." Veronica put the other box down on the carpet, her arms aching from the weight. How Anna had thought she was going to carry both all the way up the stairs by herself, Veronica could only imagine.

"Yeah, likewise," Veronica replied, before walking up the next flight of stairs. She walked along the well-lit corridor, passing by three wide windows, until she reached the correct door and knocked.

The door swung open quickly. "Hey, you. Wondering when you'd get here. Bring me a housewarming gift?"

"Yeah, me! You should be happy I visit at all."

She followed him through to his room, where piles of boxes lay scattered on every surface. The room was large, bigger than Veronica had imagined college dorms to be. There were two single beds either side of the room, two smaller doors that Veronica imagined to be closets, an open door that led to a bathroom and two desks. "I love what you've done with the place," she joked. "It reminds me of one of the exhibits at the MoMa... I think it was called 'Squalor.'"

_Yes, I did get to the see the MoMA after all this summer, along with the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and all the other standard tourist stops. Dad made it to the airport just in time to save me from a summer vacation spent locked in my room sulking. I was dying to know what Kendall held him up for - apparently she had a briefcase full of money. After I kicked him repeatedly for not taking it, he told me she wanted him to blackmail someone on her behalf. He gave Kendall Vinnie Vanlowe's card and sent her on her slutty way._

"Haha," Wallace deadpanned. "Take a seat?"

"On the mess?" Veronica asked, glancing around. "Tempting…"

"You could help unpack," Wallace pointed out.

"Also a tempting offer, but I said I'd visit Mac before going to the welcome talks," Veronica said, waving her hand in false regret.

"Some friend you are, you can't even help with a little unpacking."

Her voice took on her best bubble-gum air-headed blonde persona as she gasped and protested, "But I might break a nail."

Wallace smiled and began to dig around in a box on his bed. "Made any enemies yet?" Wallace teased.

"You mean any _more_ enemies. I seem to recall being on a certain frat's 'people to kill' list since before registration. Seriously though, that's the great thing about college – it's a clean slate. No one knows who I am, I don't have a reputation, I won't get constantly bugged for help with whatever."

Wallace smiled. "Yeah, it will be a nice change for you."

"Met your roomie yet?" Veronica asked.

"He stopped by earlier. Seems… different? He put his duffle bag down and said, 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him catch the worm.' He then left the room and I haven't seen him since."

"Interesting. I wonder if they check if people are of sound mental health."

"I wasn't checked," Wallace said.

"Ah, your poor roommate's gotta put up with you," Veronica teased. "How will he cope? But seriously though, how do you know you aren't sharing living space with a murderer, or someone who checks if you're getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, or something?"

"I guess that's a risk I'll have to take," Wallace conceded, before turning and glaring at her as she moved the poster he had put on the wall already.

"If you're going to be annoying, you can go bug Mac."

"You're turning on me already!" Veronica protested. "You promised you wouldn't desert me and already it's 'get out, go and see your other friend!'" She sighed dramatically. "You know I only have two friends, I need to budget my time between you." She turned and flounced out the door before he could respond.

_And here I am. Hearst College. When I walked out of that exam before Aaron's verdict, I walked out on my childhood dream of Stanford. Dad suggested I save money and live at home - although it isn't much cheaper, but I don't think dad was quite ready to let me go yet. My contact from the 09er trial managed to get me a partial scholarship. With the Mannings reward for catching Woody, my savings and working my ass off this year - I can just about afford to go. And it does mean I get to go to school with my friends._

"Wow," Veronica exclaimed, as she walked into Mac's room.

"You like?" Mac asked, gesturing around the room. Posters covered the walls, trinkets adorned every surface and a complicated dark tapestry had been somehow hung over the wall on Mac's side of the room.

"I love. How long have you been here?" Veronica asked, deciding that it must have taken hours of work to get it looking this way. Her gaze flicked to the window, where fairy lights were strung around it, and dark voile hung over the curtain pole.

"I left at dawn." She shrugged. "I couldn't wait to get out of there."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you," Veronica said to the auburn haired girl sitting on the other bed. Her long skirt was pooled around her knees as she flicked through what looked like a copy of _People_ magazine.

"Hi, I'm Sarah, Sarah Greene," she greeted brightly.

"Veronica Mars, and god, I'm sick of my name already. Maybe I should just have it tattooed on my forehead," Veronica laughed.

"I think that's a little extreme," Sarah said, wrinkling her nose. "Some people wear name tags, but…"

"But name tags are lame?" Veronica interjected.

Sarah smiled. "So. Lame."

"Are you guys ready to head over to orientation?" Mac asked, as she put her jacket on and picked up her set of keys to the room.

"Count me in," Veronica said. "I think it's mandatory anyway. Plus, I think skipping our first talk wouldn't go down well."

OOO

"My god, was that the most boring thing ever?" Mac asked, shaking her head.

"Actually, I think Professor Badel's lectures have it beat," a male voice said from behind them, and the girls turned, "but the welcome talks are a close second."

"Nice to see you again, Dean." She smiled at the friendly face of the boy that had shown them around campus a few months prior.

"And you, Veronica, who proclaimed you'd not be coming to Hearst."

"Yeah, they totally stalked me, sent me pleading letters and stuff until I agreed. I didn't know a college could be so needy," Veronica shrugged.

"Right," Dean laughed. "Well, I have to go. I'll probably see you around campus, with all the activities going on. And you'll be coming to the mixer Friday night? It's usually a blast."

"Sounds like fun," Sarah agreed.

"Yeah, we'll see you there," Mac put in.

Dean headed back into the building as they began to walk back towards the halls. Veronica glanced at her watch, with a grimace. "Damn, I said I'd be at the office by lunch. I'll come over tomorrow!"

"Have fun!" Mac called, as Veronica hurried off to where she had parked the LeBaron.

OOO

"Go right through, Veronica," Beverly, the mayor's assistant greeted with a welcoming smile.

"Is my dad here?" Veronica asked.

"He's in a meeting, I'll tell him you dropped by."

"Thanks," Veronica said, opening the door to the office next door and going through. "Sorry I'm late, Toby. Orientation overran."

Toby dropped his file and hurried across the room. He put his hands on her hips, and pulled her close for a kiss. Veronica ran her fingers through his short dark hair before they broke apart. He smiled warmly down at her. "Missed you."

"I'm sure the mayor has kept you busy," Veronica smirked.

"He's a demanding fellow," Toby said sarcastically. "Expects me to be on time, finish work promptly, polish my shoes…"

"I'm sure you're exaggerating. He's _never_ on time. And by the way, if you bring him chocolate cookies in the afternoon, he's putty in your hands," Veronica revealed.

"Right. Cookies. Putty in hands. I do love dating the mayor's daughter," Toby laughed. "I get to know all the trade secrets. Ready for lunch?"

"Always."

_Yes, it was another complicated summer for my love life. Things went from good, to horrible, to okay again. After Aaron died, the media went completely insane. They honed in on Logan, following him everywhere. We couldn't go to the beach without ending up in The National Enquirer. Logan was used to being under the spotlight to a certain extent, but he'd never been under so much pressure. His father's death and Trina's attention whore tendencies brought on additional public interest. Things turned ugly when Logan started hanging out with Dick Casablancas again. Images of them stumbling drunk out of bars became a cover story. I tried to be the supportive girlfriend, but things came to a head a few weeks after I got back from New York._

**"Wanna see a movie tomorrow night?" Veronica asked, as she smiled up at Logan from her position on the couch. Her long blond hair was pulled back from her face with a pale blue head band and she reached up and adjusted it slightly, to catch a few escaped hairs. She crossed her legs beneath her as she shifted into a new position. "We could go and see X-Men 3. I've heard mixed reviews, but..." She trailed off with a shrug and looked at Logan expectantly.**

**Logan's shoulders stiffened as he turned away. "Veronica," he said quietly. "I'm leaving."**

"**Oh, okay," she said, hiding a smile at his dramatics. "Well, let me know about the movie? I mean, we don't have to see it, but I'm tired of waiting for things to come through on Netflix."**

"**No, I'm leaving. I'm leaving Neptune." He shifted next to her, looking uncomfortable and his posture still set.**

**Veronica gaped at him in shock. Her voice was non-existent for a moment, before she managed to stammer out, "What? I don't understand…"**

_Logan was alone in the world. Both his parents were dead, his sister was off chasing whichever two-bit producer might be able to salvage her career this week, and his buddy Dick was on his own downward spiral. Why would Logan want to leave the only person in the world he had?_

**She reached out to put her hand on his arm, but he moved before she could. She pulled her arm back as if she'd been burned, hiding her hand in her lap.**

_Logan and I talked about it. We agreed that we were both going to try and make our relationship work this time. We had a lot of issues but I thought we both wanted to be together._

**Veronica could feel icy slivers of numbness slowly reaching around her body. When Logan spoke, it sounded like she was underwater, his voice sounding distant and muted.**

"**I can't do this anymore. So, I'm going. Tomorrow." He slowly rose from the couch and walked away from her slowly. His eyes were still not meeting hers. **

"**Tomorrow?" Veronica asked dully. "You're telling me **_**now**_** that you're leaving tomorrow? But why?"**

**He glanced down towards her, his height and darkening expression making her feel even smaller. "I'm sorry; it just has to be this way." He still wouldn't face her, like he couldn't bear to look at her.**

**Veronica's breath hitched, as she pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around them.**

**Logan crossed to the door, his jaw tight and his shoulders slumped. He touched the door handle, then looked back at her, his eyes dull and lifeless. **

**Veronica wanted to lash out at him but his haunted expression stopped her. He looked like someone had just ripped his heart out. Her anger melted into concern. "Logan," she whispered.**

**He ignored her soft plea and wrenched open the door. "Goodbye," he murmured. He walked out without a backward glance.**

**The door clicked shut behind him and Veronica remained frozen, unable to tear her eyes away from it.**

_I spent the next few weeks trying to piece myself back together again. I hated that I'd let him do that to me, but I couldn't bring myself out of the daze. One night, Cliff and dad were slowly making their way through a bottle of scotch when Cliff told dad they were looking for someone to temporarily replace Woody Goodman in the emergency elections. Dad, being drunk, decided he could completely turn Neptune around, and phoned the Neptune office to agree. The next morning he woke up with a pounding hangover, but decided to stick to his word. He was a shoo-in at elections, what with the whole 'running uncontested thing' to slant things in his favour. That's where Toby came in. He was already working at the mayor's office on a summer internship. He asked me to dinner constantly, but I kept turning him down. I so wasn't ready to move on. Until my nineteenth birthday…_

Veronica finished piling up the discarded paper plates and threw them into the trash. She surveyed the remaining glasses that were scattered around her apartment from the small birthday gathering she'd had, and frowned. Too tired to care any longer, she grabbed the remote control and pressed the power button.

A documentary on iguanas was hardly a thrilling end to anyone's nineteenth birthday; news, depressing; Lost, overrated – until she landed on a documentary on the Echolls'. Unable to tear her eyes away from the screen, she listened to the tragedy and scandal surrounding the Echolls family. Finally, they got to what Logan was up to now. Her heart clenched as they revealed he'd moved into a family home in Los Angeles, and was living the high life, drinking and partying nightly. Clips of him in a fist fight with paparazzi, followed by him staggering out of a nightclub at closing, and finally with his lips attached to an unknown blonde girl. She switched the TV off instantly, her chest tightening as she drew a sharp breath. Her eyes stung and she wiped at them angrily, before she began to pile the glasses up.

_I accepted Toby's dinner invitation the next time he asked, and we've been dating ever since. He's nice, caring and could make a nun's hormones go into overdrive._

OOO

Weevil coughed politely, trying to gain Beverly's attention. She looked up, startled, and plastered her wide, fake smile on her face quickly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here to see Mr Mars," Weevil explained.

"I'll let him know," Beverley said. "And who should I tell him wants to see him?"

"Eli Navarro."

Beverley disappeared into the office for a minute, and then returned, holding the door open. "He says go right in."

"Eli, what brings you here?" Keith asked from behind his desk, as Weevil walked through the doorway.

"Congratulations on becoming the mayor," he said.

"Thanks. I didn't know you were out of jail yet," Keith pointed out. "What can I do for you?"

"I got let out early for good behaviour." Weevil glanced towards a seat and Keith nodded. He sat down on it quickly and folded his hands in his lap. He hesitated, before he rushed ahead, "I know people."

"Good for you, Eli, but what's that got to do with me?" Keith asked in confusion.

"Nah, I mean, I've got connections. People on the streets, people from inside. I've got access to my uncle's cars, great for tailing people. You being mayor is only temporary, right? And you must want a business to go back to."

"Are you asking for a _job_?" Keith asked, fighting to keep his jaw from dropping.

Weevil shrugged. "With Veronica busy at college, I can help you with Mars Investigations while you're busy. I just need to get back on my feet, for someone to give me a chance."

"No."

"No? That's it?"

"Forgive me for not putting my trust into someone who just served three months for the assault of a boy who later turned up dead. Now, I've got a lot of work to do, so if you wouldn't mind…" Keith began gathering papers on his desk, implying their conversation was over.

Weevil stared at him in disappointment for a second, before he said, "I thought you were different." He got up and let himself out.

OOO

"This place is amazing," Toby told Veronica, as she handed him the menu.

Veronica glanced around at the neon blue strip lighting, the movie star pictures and the dim, moody feeling of the place. "It was a great find," she admitted. "Wallace and I had lunch here the other day."

"You came here with another guy first?" Toby protested, his blue eyes wide. "You don't tell me that."

Veronica laughed. "You'll live."

"I guess I'll have to. What are you gonna order?"

"Pasta," Veronica said with a smile, waiting for his usual protests.

"Then why didn't we just go to the Italian place if you were going to order that?" he asked in mock-annoyance. "Honestly."

"Because that would be boring," Veronica informed him, punching him gently in the shoulder. "Now shut up and choose already, I'm hungry." Veronica watched him as he bit his lip as he concentrated on scanning the menu.

"Veronica?" a voice questioned, and Veronica looked up to see Sarah standing behind Toby in a short yellow summer dress.

"Oh, hi!" Veronica greeted. "Toby, this is Mac's roommate, and Sarah, this is my boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Toby said as he stood, holding out his hand. Sarah took it briefly.

"I'm here on a first date, actually," Sarah admitted. "We're sitting across the room but I saw you come in and wanted to say 'hi'. I should get back before he comes out of the bathroom. I'll see you tomorrow night!"

"She seems nice," Toby commented.

"Yeah," Veronica agreed. "I'm glad for Mac; she could do with some more people in her life."

"After what happened with her boyfriend?" Toby asked, with a sympathetic expression.

"Yeah," Veronica said uncomfortably.

_Mac handled the situation as well as anyone could. I mean, what can you do when your boyfriend turns out to be a mass murderer? Toby doesn't know all the details, but he got the Reader's Digest version from the newspapers like everybody else. And I want to keep it that way. I think if I told him the drama that really is my life, he'd set a new world record for running a mile, so I think I'll keep those stories for a rainy day – and luckily it rarely rains in Neptune._

OOO

"I can't believe we've been here three days already," Mac said. "It's been so busy!"

"Well, spending all your spare time with a certain boy probably helped," Veronica teased. "Meeting someone on the first day, lucky girl!"

Mac looked down, a blush staining her cheek, before she looked up hesitantly. "Do you think it's too soon?"

"To be dating someone?" Veronica asked gently.

"Matt and I aren't dating," Mac quickly clarified. "I only just met him, but he's nice and he makes me laugh."

"If you feel ready, then it isn't too soon," Veronica said.

Mac sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I almost feel like I'm betraying him, then I remember…"

Veronica's expression was sympathetic as she put her hand on top of Mac's. "It'll take time." Mac nodded, just as the door opened and Sarah strolled in, wearing large sunglasses. "And he makes you happy. That's what's important," Veronica finished.

"Hey, Veronica," Sarah greeted with a wide smile.

"Hi, Sarah," Veronica replied. "Love the look, very movie star-esque."

"Oh, crap. I always forget to take them off when I come inside," Sarah admitted, putting them on her bedside cabinet. Her nose screwed up as she added, "In fact, this morning, they were in the sink."

"Huh, my stuff's been turning up in weird places, too," Mac said. "My external hard drive was behind the TV, among other things."

"It's almost like someone is moving things while we're asleep at night," Sarah said, before she looked scared. "Do you think we have ghosts?"

"Hm, maybe some weird prank? But, as pranks on the incoming freshman go, that's pretty lame," Veronica said, her gaze fixed on Sarah's wide hazel eyes. The redhead showed no signs of lying, she maintained eye contact, didn't touch her mouth as she spoke… all the basics.

"Oh, I hope not. It will be a real pain if we have a class, and our books have been moved or something," Sarah replied.

"Oh no," Mac exclaimed. "We're late for Psych 101."

"See you later, Sarah," Veronica said, as they left the room.

OOO

The sun was warm on her skin as Veronica stood by the lecture hall's entrance. Campus had calmed down a lot over the last few days. Groups found places to hang out and were busy taking their first few introduction classes to their chosen subjects.

Veronica caught sight of Wallace, and a smile flitted across her lips. "Hey, stranger."

"Wanna go get a coffee? Although I'm sure we should be wasted, stoned and trying to hook up with anything walking right now," Wallace said in mock confusion.

"Oh, it's early in the semester," Veronica teased. "We have all year for that."

"How are classes going?" Wallace asked as they headed towards the coffee shop.

"Psychology was interesting, Intro to Criminology is tomorrow, and Photography doesn't start until Monday."

They reached the coffee shop, and ordered what they wanted, before taking a seat on one of the sofas scattered about.

"Met your team members yet?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, had our first practise today. Seems like a bunch of cool guys," Wallace informed her. "Tryouts for positions are tomorrow, before the Freshman Mixer. You are going, right?"

"Would I ever let my BFF down?" Veronica asked, with a shocked expression. Wallace shot her an amused look.

OOO

Veronica shifted on Mac's bed as she waited for Mac to finish getting ready in the bathroom. Sarah was busy chatting on her cell phone outside the room, and Veronica was bored. She pressed her lips together as she surveyed their room. She'd been looking forward to getting her own place all year. It wasn't that she didn't like living with her dad, he was great, but getting her own space and feeling like an individual appealed to her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a bottle tucked behind an alarm clock on Sarah's bedside cabinet and she got up, walked across the room and picked it up out of curiosity. _Ambien_ – sleeping pills. Veronica frowned, as she sat down by Mac's laptop, already open and booted up. She typed the name into Google and waited for the page to load. She scrolled down the list of side effects, until she hit the one she was looking for. Veronica stood and put the pills back where she had found them.

"I'm done," Mac asked, walking out the bathroom with new purple streaks in her hair.

"You look great," Veronica complimented. "I like the purple the best out of all the colours."

"I kinda liked the blue, but this is a close second."

"Okay, I'm done," Sarah said, coming back through the door, and flipping her phone shut. "I'm sure my purse was here," she mumbled from inside her closet.

"Your purse is behind the plant," Veronica said. "How long have you been on Ambien?"

Sarah looked up in surprise. "A few days. I can never sleep when I'm in a new place; my doctor suggested I try them. Why?"

"Did you know Ambien causes sleepwalking?"

Sarah shook her head. "I used to suffer from sleepwalking when I was little, but I grew out of it." She grabbed a bottle of Mountain Dew from her bedside cabinet and unscrewed the lid.

Veronica smiled. "Your stuff that keeps moving? I think it will stop when you get into a good sleeping pattern." Veronica glanced at the drink Sarah was gulping

_Maybe if you kicked the caffeine habit, you wouldn't need the drugs to help you sleep._

Sarah gaped at her as Mac laughed. "This is what Veronica does," Mac explained. "Figures stuff out."

"I… well, good to know," Sarah answered.

OOO

The music blared out as people milled around the dorm, some dancing, but most trying to have conversations at the edges of the room. A large table was weighted down with drinks, and a guy stood behind it, playing the makeshift bartender. They had gone to the official on-campus mixer, but found it was mainly used by frats and private houses to give out flyers advertising their own afterparties. They had picked the most colourful flier and headed over.

Veronica sighed, swirling her drink. It was impossible to talk over the loud noise, and Mac had been dancing with Matt for awhile, and had yet to return. Wallace and Sarah were somehow managing to keep a conversation without screaming, "What?" every three seconds.

Just then Mac bounded up, looking slightly flushed and her dark hair tousled. Veronica barely recognised her from the outfit she was wearing. Sarah had a wardrobe full of flirty, party clothes and had talked Mac into wearing a plaid mini skirt and a black halter. "Dance with me?" Mac shouted. Veronica hesitated for a second and Mac continued, "Come on! It will be fun."

"Wallace?" Veronica called as she turned; placing her drink on the windowsill they were standing by. "Keep an eye on my drink? Going to dance."

Wallace nodded and smiled as she put the drink down on the table and allowed Mac to grab her wrist and drag her onto the make-shift dance floor. The music changed to an upbeat 80's song and they moved in time to the beat.

Mac suddenly nudged her and Veronica glanced in the direction Mac was looking to see a cute guy, with short blond hair. He was tall, well built and dressed smartly in a shirt and black jeans. Mac couldn't have got any further from Cassidy if she tried.

"Matt, this is Veronica," Mac introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Veronica," Matt smiled. "I've heard a lot about you."

Veronica grimaced playfully. "Uh-oh. None of it's true."

"Wanna head back to the table?" Mac asked. Veronica agreed and the three made their way through the crowd.

Matt and Mac broke into animated conversation and Veronica sighed, wondering how everyone else managed to talk over the noise.

Veronica picked up her drink from the sill, stifling a yawn. Although home wasn't that far, it was still a twenty minute drive.

"I'm going to get a drink," Mac called.

Veronica pointed to the table. "Have you seen the line?" Mac turned and frowned when she saw the line snaked around most of the large room.

"Actually," Veronica said, "I think I'm going to go. Mac, I haven't even started my drink yet, do you want it?"

"Sure, thanks," Mac smiled, taking the glass from her. "See you tomorrow!"

Veronica made it halfway across the room, when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to find Dean standing there, with a beer in one hand.

"You made it!" he called across the loud noise.

"I did," Veronica replied, with a smile.

"How are you finding Hearst so far?" Dean asked.

"It's great! I can see why you are so proud of it," Veronica said kindly.

"What classes are you taking?"

"Doing a mix, Criminology, Psychology and Photography. Will see how it goes from there. How about you?"

"I major in Math. Which dorm have you been assigned to?"

"Oh, I'm living off-campus actually, but my friends are both at Enbom Hall and my boyfriend is at Fordham Court."

Dean's smiled. "Oh, I'm the RA at Enbom this year, so I'll probably see you around there."

"I'm sure you will," Veronica replied, before adding regretfully, "I was leaving actually. Have fun!"

Dean waved, disappearing back into the crowd again.

OOO

"Where did everyone go?" Mac asked, grabbing hold of Wallace's arm.

"Sorry? Veronica left a few minutes ago… everyone else is here," Wallace said slowly, looking at her with a curious expression. She stared at him in confusion, her pupils dilated. Her hand fell to her stomach and she groaned.

"I don't feel so good," she slurred.

"Hey, are you okay?" Matt asked, as Mac stumbled into him.

"Everything's spinning. Just need to close my eyes," she said, sitting down heavily on a chair. Wallace frowned, and glanced at her empty glass, realisation dawning on him that the drink was Veronica's.

"Sarah, stay with her!" he shouted, pushing Sarah towards Mac. "Call an ambulance and don't you dare leave her."

Wallace jumped up and raced across the room, Matt close at his heels. They burst out through the double doors, and glanced around the parking lot.

"Veronica!" Wallace yelled, looking around desperately, as he tried to decide which way she went.

"What the hell is going on?" Matt asked.

"Shh," Wallace hissed urgently. "Hear that?" he asked, a second after they heard a muffled scream. They glanced at each other before taking off at a sprint towards the sounds.

They rounded the corner, to see three people wearing dark ski masks attacking a girl, who was half crouched on the ground, her arms up as she tried to protect herself. The darkness made it impossible to see who it was.

"Hey!" Wallace bellowed, and they looked over towards them. The two men nearest the van turned and opened the doors as Wallace and Matt ran towards them. The third grabbed the girl by the back of the neck and slammed her head against the side of the van with a sickening thud. The girl crumpled to the ground, motionless.

The third person jumped in the back of the van as it sped off with a screech, leaving the girl on the asphalt. Wallace skidded to a halt next to her, his heart jumping into his throat as he brushed the blood soaked hair out of Veronica's face.

OOO

TBC...

Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is cherished and makes my soul tingle.


	2. Dream A Little Dream

**Title:** Season Three – Episode Two: **_Dream A Little Dream_**  
**Note:** Veronica's dreams are all in bold.

**"Come on, it's easy," Lilly declared, jumping up and catching a lower branch. She swung for a second before nimbly clambering further up. She looked back down at Veronica, who watched nervously from the bottom of the tree. "Hurry up!" Lilly demanded harshly**

Veronica glanced around, half expecting to see Celeste coming storming towards them, but no one appeared.

"Veronica," Lilly hissed. "Do you want to get back inside before Celeste notices we left and throws a shit-fit, or what?"

Veronica sighed and yanked down the denim mini-skirt Lilly had insisted she wore, before following the same path Lilly had taken. Her best friend was struggling to open the window when she reached the top of the tree conveniently grown in the perfect spot for sneaking in and out of the house. Veronica perched uncomfortably on the branch behind her. The window suddenly shot open, surprising Lilly and making her tumble backwards into Veronica. 

The next thing Veronica saw when she opened her eyes was Lilly crouched next to her with a worried expression on her face. Jake and Celeste Kane hovered nearby, Celeste looking annoyed and Jake nervous. Veronica's arm throbbed with pain.

"It's okay," Lilly reassured quickly.

"But you're going to get into trouble," Veronica whispered, before groaning as the pain increased.

"Shh," Lilly hushed. "The ambulance is on its way. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all."  
  
OOO

Wallace peered around the door and saw Mac sitting up in the hospital bed. She was alone, her eyes fixated on the television. He knocked gently and she looked up, smiling when she saw who it was. He entered the room.

"Hey. How you feeling?" he asked, dropping down in the chair next to her. Wallace looked weary and tired, and was still wearing the same shirt and pants – still streaked with Veronica's blood - he had on from the night before.

Mac smiled wanly. "I'm fine, thanks. I felt sick when I woke up, and confused, but my mom explained what happened." Her expression turned anxious. "How's Veronica? I keep asking the nurses, but they won't tell me anything – I'm not family."

Wallace sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Not good. They announced she was stable this morning and they managed to contain the internal bleeding in surgery. She also has a fractured wrist and plenty of cuts and bruises. She hasn't woken up yet."

Mac looked distressed as she twisted the bed sheet around her hand. "Mom said the police are saying it was an attempted kidnap?"

"That's the official story," Wallace agreed.

"And the unofficial?" Mac prompted.

Wallace looked down at the floor. "There has been talk of it being the Hearst rapist, with the reported assaults still going on. The drugs fit, but no one's been physically attacked yet." He stood up. "I'm gonna head home. I wanna get out these clothes and then get back to Veronica, now I know you're okay. Is your mom still here?"

"She just went home to get some stuff, she'll be back soon," Mac said.

Wallace nodded. "I'll see you soon." He turned just as Matt knocked on the door. "Hey, man," he greeted as he passed.

"Mac," Matt said with a shy smile, his eyes lighting up as he saw Mac.

"Hi!" Mac replied in surprise, suddenly feeling self conscious. She hadn't brushed her hair and she was in a horrible over-sized hospital gown, while he looked fresh in Diesel jeans and a polo shirt. His blonde hair was neatly gelled and his hand was behind his back.

He moved his hand forward, producing a bunch of brightly coloured flowers. "Sorry to be so cliché," he apologised.

"Not clichéd at all." Mac couldn't help but smile brightly as she said, "Take a seat?"

OOO

The blue and purple bruises stood out in harsh contrast to her pale skin. Keith reached over and brushed a strand of blonde hair away from the blood-mottled cut across her forehead, cringing as he did so.

"Any change?" Wallace asked quietly as he came through the door, having changed in fresh clothes.

Keith looked up and shook his head sadly. "Nothing."

Wallace looked disappointed, before he held up a DVD. "I picked up the South Park movie when I was at home. Thought we could play it."

"Thanks," Keith murmured. "I'll put it on later."

Wallace pushed a chair by the wall over to the bed and sat down heavily. "Is Lamb in charge of the investigation?"

"Afraid so," Keith said grimly.

"Can you not use your influence to, I don't know, threaten him?" Wallace suggested. "Veronica would be impressed."

Keith's eyes dropped to his daughter between them, then back up to her best friend. "She would," he agreed.

"Sir?" a female voice said from the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt, but we are ready for you to make the statement to the press now."

"Thanks, Judy," Keith said, walking to the door, before he asked, "Stay with her?"

"Of course," Wallace replied as Keith left.

The only sounds in the room after the door clicked shut were the quiet beeping from the heart monitor and an annoying persistent cough from down the hallway. Wallace reached out and placed his hand on Veronica's smaller one. 

"Wake up," Wallace murmured. "Please Veronica, come back to us."

His fingers wrapped around hers. "Who's gonna eat lunch with me? Who's going to keep me awake when I've got a project due the next day and I'm pulling an overnight? Who'll make me watch the Southpark movie for the three-thousandth time?" His voice broke as he whispered, "Who's going to be my best friend?"

The darkness in Veronica's mind shifted into images of a sunny Californian day.

OOO

**It wasn't until she began to push through the crowd of people Veronica realised what everyone was staring at. She didn't recognise the boy taped to the flagpole and he looked about her age, so she was sure he was new. Veronica glared in disgust at a guy who pulled out his camera and took a picture. Acute humiliation flittered across the poor bound boy's face as he squeezed his eyes shut for a second, trying to remain composed in front of his tormentors.**

"Move," Veronica demanded to the guy with a camera.

"Who died and made you quee-?" the jerk began, until Veronica pulled out a knife.

"You are a freak." He disappeared back into the crowd as Veronica began to slice through the tape holding the boy up.

OOO

All in all, it was a pretty crappy day. Meg had died, Duncan hadn't bothered to phone, she was back on the shit-list of the 09ers and she was spending New Year sitting on the couch alone.

There was a knock at the door and her stomach rumbled. Maybe she could talk the pizza guy into staying with her until twelve… he was probably lonely as well.

She grabbed the money as she walked over to the door and opened it. Her jaw dropped open in shock as her eyes filled with tears.

Wallace smiled as he exclaimed, "Happy New Year!" She stood looking at him for a second before she moved forward, wrapping her arms tightly around him as he laughed.

OOO

The test was going to start in only a few minutes, and if Wallace left now, she could read to the end of the chapter.

"You better enjoy this, 'cause this is as nostalgic as I get," Wallace said, and she looked up, finally giving him her undivided attention. "I just wanted to say...it was worth getting taped to a pole." Veronica's expression softened, her heart melting at his words. "Gonna miss you."

Veronica waited a second before she joked, "And my stupid ass face?" covering the fact that she was on the verge of tears. They both broke into laughter.  
  
OOO

"Sir, while you're here," Beverly called out, hurrying after Keith into his office as Keith stormed through, "can you just sign these, so I can get them sent out?"

"What are they?" Keith asked, taking the small pile of papers from her.

"Housing applications," Beverly replied. "I'd get the Head of Housing to do it, but he's on holiday, not due back for a week."

"Christopher Harris, he's that film director." He frowned. "Isn't he new in town? How is his application at the top of the pile already?"

Beverly flushed. "Oh, well, you know."

Keith's eyes narrowed. "No, I don't know."

"Well, sir, when someone makes a donation of some kind, it's common practise to let a few things slide. They put money back into the town…" Beverly tried to explain.

"Does this happen across the board?" Keith interrupted, in a low tone. "Make a donation, get what you want?"

"I… guess," Beverly said hesitantly.

"That is _not_ how things are going to work anymore," Keith said. "Call a meeting. I'm going to fire all the heads of departments."

"What?" Beverly asked in shock. "But…"

"Do it," Keith demanded. "Things have been run the wrong way for too long. They're top paid workers, they'll get jobs elsewhere. Advertise all the positions."

"Mr Mars, the press are outside, waiting for you," someone said from the doorway. Keith nodded at Beverly, before following to make his statement.

OOO

The smell in the room was overpowering as stale sweat and alcohol mixed together. Logan fought back a groan as a pretty blonde girl sat down next to him with a glass of neat vodka in her hand and put her hand on his knee. His head was pounding with a hangover from the night before and he felt like he was going to throw up.

"Hey, Logan," the girl said, in her best sultry voice. She looked like she'd been poured into the red dress she was wearing. His body stiffened as her hand slid further up his thigh, and he tried to move further over on the sofa. "Quite a party. I'd heard the rumours, but they were nothing compared to the real thing. I'm sure a lot of things I hear about you aren't as good as the real thing..." Her hand slid suggestively to the inside of his thigh.

He pushed away her hand in annoyance. "No, they aren't - but I'm sure that everything I've heard about you is true. Fred Durst said that doing you was like spelunking. Who knew that that was even possible? I mean, if I actually stuck it in, I wouldn't get off - and, well, that's just pointless. So, why don't you run along so I can have a more satisfying experience jerking off?"

She yanked her hand back, looking disgusted. "You know, broken-hearted emo boys are so last summer."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bill. "And coke whores were _never_ in style. Here's five bucks, pick up a Cosmo and learn a thing or two," he snapped, throwing the money in her direction as she stomped off the best she could in high heels.

Logan got up and stepped over a guy passed out on the floor, white powder spilt near where his hand lay. He reached the sanctuary of his bedroom and sighed in relief, until he heard a low moan. He squinted in the darkness and saw a couple writhing on his bed.

"Get out," he yelled. They looked up and saw his face contorted in rage. They jumped out of the bed and he threw the clothes he gathered from the floor at them. He noticed a shoe that didn't belong to him and lobbed it at the door as it slammed shut behind them. It bounced off, sending the alarm clock on the bedside cabinet flying.

"Is nothing sacred anymore?" he mumbled sarcastically to himself. Logan pulled the top cover away and threw it in the corner, before he sat down on the large bed. He grabbed the remote control, hit the power button and began to channel surf. He had flicked past the news channel when he realised that the ticker across the bottom had said Neptune, so he quickly switched back. He craved some kind of contact from his hometown. He had debated about subscribing to the local newspaper, but decided that being cut off completely was the way to make a clean break. That didn't mean he wasn't interested when something was held right in front of his face.

A news anchor stood outside the mayor's office, with a serious expression on her face as she said, "A massive search has started today after an assault and attempted kidnapping at Hearst College in Neptune, California, last night. In a statement released a few minutes ago, the local Sheriff said that Veronica Mars, the daughter of the recently elected County Supervisor was at a freshman mixer at Hearst. She was attacked by three masked men in the parking lot outside the dormitory almost immediately after leaving the party. Luckily, two students leaving the same party interrupted the attack. Ms Mars is comatose, and in a critical condition. Keith Mars, County Supervisor, has vowed to do everything in his power to find the men responsible and bring them to justice."

Logan sat staring at the television long after the news changed to a story of a robbery in San Diego. His lungs felt like they were burning as he struggled to keep breathing. His throat felt sore and tight and his head pounded. He leaned forward, burying his face in the palms of his hands, trying to ignore the burning feeling behind his eyelids.

He began to throw his things haphazardly into a bag, before he opened his bedroom door and grabbed the first person walking past.

"Dave," he said, his voice low and serious. "Get these people out of my house – all of them. Five minutes, I swear."

Dave nodded and hurried off as Logan fumbled in his pocket for his car keys.

OOO

**Veronica could hear the water gently lapping against the rocks as she sat on the edge of the cliff with her legs dangling over. The back of her calves brushed the sandy front. Her gaze leisurely scanned the horizon, taking in the aqua hues of the ocean and the shimmering violet cast by the setting sun. **

The wind softly breezed past, lifting her hair momentarily and then settling it down. She reached up and absently pushed the golden strands back behind her ear.

She heard footsteps clacking on the stone path stretching behind her and glanced to her left to see a pair of pink five-inch Manolo Blahnik's come to a halt. The girl clambered down beside her and smoothed down her matching dress. She looked like she'd been poured into it, the material accentuating every curve.

"Nice view," the girl remarked. Veronica felt a sharp pang at the familiar voice. The sense of loss was acute, even now.

She turned and gave her a watery smile. "I miss you, Lilly."

"Of course you do, I was fabulous! And I'd be pissed if you didn't."

Veronica sighed and Lilly leaned on her shoulder, her shiny hair tumbling across Veronica's collarbone and tickling her. The spicy aroma of Lilly's _Dolly Girl_ perfume overpowered the sweet smell of the salty ocean. Veronica remembered the day they picked out the perfume, after Lilly read in _Vogue_ that all girls need a signature scent. Lilly had been drawn to the pink bottle straight away, the mixture of apple, melon and cinnamon appealing to her. The blurb described it as mischievous, carefree and flirty and she'd laughed at the accuracy.

Veronica had taken her time, slowly trying out every bottle until finally finding the one she liked – _Sui Dreams_. Lilly proclaimed it perfect; pointing out it was described as part soft innocence and part rock-n-roll vixen. She'd nudged Veronica and winked, telling her to unleash the vixen sometime, and then whisked her off before she could change her mind.

"You don't visit often, anymore," Veronica said sadly.

"It's not that I don't want to," Lilly promised.

"You're too busy having fun in your afterlife?"

Lilly smirked. "Something like that."

"Lil, did you give that psychic a message?" Veronica asked curiously.

Lilly looked up. "I wouldn't be so tacky. Messages written in blood red lipstick on the mirror? More my scene." She smiled. "I kinda liked that Jackie."

"She reminded me of you, sometimes," Veronica admitted. "I think that's why I didn't like her." Lilly looked offended and Veronica rushed to add, "Because it hurt, you know? I always admired her, she seemed like she was happy to be herself. Then it turned out she was living the biggest lie of all. Ironic, huh?"

"Jeeze, melancholy much?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Life ain't sunshine and roses."

"It _could_ be, if you wanted," Lilly said. "But you aren't that boring."

Veronica smiled and pinched her, as Lilly laughed and battered her hand away. She lay back, perched on her elbows and let out a breath of air. "I'll tell you what's ironic."

"What's that?" Veronica asked.

"Aaron murders me, by splattering my brains everywhere."

"Then someone splatters his brains across a TV," Veronica finished with a laugh. "Fitting."

OOO

Wallace grunted in his sleep as he leaned on the bed, his arms folded. Keith closed the door gently behind him and walked quietly over to the bed, thankful to leave the rank hospital smell of food, disinfectant and urine in the hallway behind him. The harsh overhead light cast an unforgiving glow on Veronica. Every bruise and scrape stood out and anger coursed through his veins, making his skin hum with the need to find whoever did this to his daughter and wrap his hands around their necks.

Keith glanced tenderly at Wallace, who'd been by her side every moment he could. While Veronica had been happy in years gone past, knowing lots of people within the 09ers, Keith realised the value of having a small number of close friends, who would stand by you for life.

The door clicked open and a nurse let herself in, not bothering to try and contain any noise. Wallace jerked awake and spotted Keith. A guilty expressed crossed his face. "I was just…"

"It's okay," Keith assured. "You must be exhausted."

The nurse busied herself taking Veronica's blood pressure and checking her vital signs.

"Any change?" Keith asked hopefully.

The nurse shook her head. "Still stable. Everything looks okay."

"Then why isn't she waking up?" Wallace asked.

"We can't always tell why patients remain in a coma. Sometimes the body likes to heal before it lets itself regain consciousness and it isn't uncommon for someone who has suffered head injuries or a traumatic experience to remain this way for a few days."

"She'll wake up," Keith said firmly, before he realised he sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself, than Wallace.

Wallace stood up. "I'm going to get some food, want anything?"

Keith grimaced, his stomach feeling like it had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. "I'll pass, thanks."

OOO

"Do you want another drink, honey?" Natalie Mackenzie asked, hovering by the bed anxiously. Mac shook her head. Her mom had insisted she go home, rather than back to her dorm room like Mac wanted. She'd only been away for a few days, but already her bedroom felt foreign to her. It didn't help that all her art posters had been taken down, leaving the walls looking bare. "Are you sure you feel okay?"

"Mom, I'm _fine_," Mac repeated. "I feel completely normal, it isn't a big deal."

"My daughter was drugged," Natalie said, pursing her lips. "Of course it's a big deal."

"Nothing happened, I was safe. It wasn't even intended for me…" Mac assured.

"Well, perhaps your friend should be more careful about what she gives you in the future."

"Mom! It wasn't Veronica's fault," Mac snapped back. "Blame whoever did it, not her. She's in a coma, for god's sake."

Natalie sighed, tucking the comforter in further around Mac. Mac squirmed uncomfortably. "Ryan has chosen some movies to watch with you."

"What? Why? Make him stay away from me," Mac said irritably.

"Cindy, he is just as worried about you as we are."

"I'm going back to school tomorrow," Mac informed her mom.

Natalie looked wounded for a second, her hands fluttering up to play with necklace, as she often did when she was worried or nervous. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked.

Mac nodded resolutely, pushing the comforter back down. "Absolutely." Her mom headed back out the room was a disapproving expression on her face and Mac sighed. She leaned down and picked up her laptop from the floor. She clicked the button to connect to the college WAN system.

She hadn't had a chance to dig around Hearst's server and it wasn't long before she was behind the firewall and into student records. There were the standards - grades, medical needs, archives. However, when she tried to get into a generic temp file, she was denied access, even when the server thought she was the administrator. She quickly found her password decryptor and uploaded it, allowing it to run in the background while she continued to browse.

It wasn't long until she realized the program had been running an hour and she'd only broken through the first layer of encryption. She found a few of the already decrypted files and began going through them, thoroughly baffled at the code in front of her. She'd never seen anything like it in her life.

Just then, a system message popped up. She tutted and was just about to close it down automatically when she noticed what it said.

_'Tredding on thin ice, Big Mac. Back up before you fall through the rabbit hole.'_

She flinched, and slammed the laptop screen down.

OOO

**The air felt crisp and Veronica shivered. She ran her hands up her arms, trying to smooth the goose pimples down. She squinted across the frozen water, picking out a young boy in the crowd skating. He turned with a flourish and began skating backwards with a finesse Veronica had never been able to manage. There was something very elegant about ice skating, people letting themselves go, their arms poised as they held themselves in perfect balance on a thin strip of metal. She rubbed at her freezing cold nose, knowing she probably resembled Rudolf.**

"Gonna try it?" Wallace ask, making her jump as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere and leaned on the same metal bar she was currently propped up against.

"Probably not," she replied. She tasted cinnamon and hot chocolate as she ran her tongue over her teeth.

"I didn't think so." His teeth gleamed white against his skin and the dull glow of the evening.

"You remember what I told you?" she asked softly. He looked at her blankly. "Oprah. Kittens."

"You aren't going to die, Veronica," he replied sternly. The boy she'd been watching on the ice tried a double spin, and lost his footing. He came crashing to the ground, bringing another two people with him. Veronica winced.

"We all die sometime. Some sooner than others," she pointed out.

"Not you," Wallace replied, his voice full of certainty.

"Not you either," she commanded. "Life would _really_ suck without you."

"What are we talking about?" Mac asked, suddenly joining them on her other side.

Veronica frowned, the conversation slipping out of her grasp. "I can't remember."

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Wallace prompted.

"Oh yes," Veronica said. "Wallace, meet Mac – computer extraordinaire and vegan. She was swapped at birth you know." Wallace raising his eyebrows, looking impressed. "And Mac, meet Wallace. Best basketball player Neptune has ever known and valiant meat eater. He found out the dude he thought was his dad in fact wasn't, and the ex-junkie, ex-cop in fact was."

Mac nodded. "Neptune is so fucked up."

Veronica glanced down to see a revolver appear in her hand. It felt warm and sleek and as quick as it was there, it was gone. She looked up to meet Mac's eyes, shining in sympathy.

"You should have killed him when you had the chance," she said.

"Hey, isn't that David Hasselhoff skating over there?" Wallace asked, nudging her.

Veronica's nose wrinkled in distaste. The boy once again attempted a double spin, and succeeded. He landed with a triumphant grin.  
  
OOO

Logan arrived at the hospital that evening and asked the person behind the desk for directions to Veronica's room. At first, the receptionist didn't want to tell him anything, as he wasn't family, but it was amazing how a flash of green could make people suddenly talkative.

He reached the floor Veronica was on and grimaced when he realised the large police officer standing outside a room, was in fact his destination. He approached, trying to look confident. The officer noticed him and raised an eyebrow.

"You can't go in there," he warned.

Logan raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm a family friend, just want to visit."

"No one can go in there, unless they have family say-so."

"Oh, come on, Officer, who will know?" Logan asked, making sure to keep his tone light, trying to glance around the officer's bulky frame into the room.

The officer side-stepped, directly blocking his view. "I'll know. Please leave, before I have to escort you off the premises."

"Look, I just want to see her," Logan said angrily.

"I can't let you do that," the officer said firmly. Logan stepped forward and the officer put his hand on his baton in warning. Logan stiffened, his hand tightening into a fist.

"Hey," a sharp voice called out, and Logan glanced over his shoulder to see Keith standing there with a coffee in his hand. "That's enough." The guard relaxed when Keith nodded at him, and he wandered further down the hallway to give them some privacy.

"How is she?" Logan asked quickly.

Keith looked worn down, with wrinkled clothing and a despairing look in his eyes. "She's in a coma," he said honestly. "The longer she stays that way, the worse things are."

"Can I see her?" Logan asked desperately.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Keith said.

"Please," Logan implored, his eyes looking suspiciously shiny. "Just a few minutes."

Keith sighed. "Alright," he agreed. "I'll go and drink the coffee outside, I'll be back soon."

Logan nodded gratefully, hurrying in the room before Keith could change his mind. His breath sucked in when he saw her lying still on the bed. He walked slowly over to the bed, and reached out tentatively to run his fingertips across her hair. A colourful bruise covered her cheek, and a long cut ran across her forehead. Her bare arms were covered with dark bruises.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I'm so sorry for letting you get hurt again."

His eyes stung, and he rubbed them, before he gently threaded his fingers through hers.

OOO

**Veronica squinted ahead in the dimming sunlight. Lilly and Logan had already reached the car, and Duncan was trailing ridiculously far behind, having been left to drag the barbeque back that Lilly had thought would be a fabulous idea to take to the beach. Her legs throbbed; it felt like she hadn't sat down all day. She'd been too busy swimming or playing volleyball with the others. The car was a welcome sight**

Veronica put her foot on the asphalt and hissed as it burned the soles of her feet, pulling her foot back quickly. She dropped her bag on the sand and began to rummage around for her sandals. The bag, while full of towels, suntan lotion, Lilly's change of bikini and some left over cans of Coke, was empty of the shoes in question. She sighed and looked up, and jumped when she realised Logan was standing right in front of her, staring at her questioningly.

"Leave something behind?" he asked.

"No, I was looking for something to put on my feet," she explained. "I think they must be in Lilly's bag. The ground is _boiling_."

"Want a piggy back ride?" he asked, with a smirk.

"Seriously?" she asked, biting her lip. Logan wasn't exactly the type the offer to do something just because. Unless it was for Lilly, of course.

"Well, yeah. You aren't exactly heavy. I think a five year old could knock you over," he teased. "And I do want to get home sometime this year…"

"Oh, ha ha," Veronica replied, rolling her eyes.

Logan turned and lowered, so she could clamber onto his back. He hands grasped her ankles, holding her secure as he headed back towards the car.

"I bet you've never seen the world from such heights before," he said sarcastically.

"I'm not _that_ short!" Veronica laughed in exasperation.   
  
OOO

Logan leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly across her hand. "I'm a fuckup," he murmured. "I always have been. See, I was wrecking your life as well as mine, and that's not fair. I had to go. I never wanted to leave you, I swear, I did it for you."

He swallowed harshly, his throat aching under the painful pressure. He couldn't stand to see her looking so vulnerable and small. Veronica was sassy, feisty - telling him off and bossing people around.

"I promise," he said softly, "if you wake up – I'll stay by your side. I won't let anyone hurt you again. I'll change and I won't screw up anymore. I'll sort my life out, be the person you want me to be. Just please, wake up, Veronica."

OOO

**Logan's intense gaze swam into focus. She was lying on top of him and her lips tasted of him. "I can't take that I hurt you like that. I can't take that I hurt you when all I want to do is protect you."**

She leaned forward, pressing her lips back against his. She pushed him back into the bed, deepening the kiss until his hands grasper her shoulders and pulled her away gently.

"I want you to trust me," he said.

She smiled. "I do."

OOO

Her mind was a million miles away as she walked across the beach, Backup tugging on the leash. She barely registered walking past a group of people, so intent on finding her car keys, until Logan's voice harshly broke unto her thoughts.

"So, I guess we broke up, huh?"

Veronica glanced behind her and then tugged onto the leash, carrying on towards the car. "What do you want me to say, Logan?" she asked.

Logan's steps quickened, easily beating hers as he said, "'Logan, I'm gonna go home and put my head in the oven, because I can't go on living knowing what a heartless bitch I am.' Something like that." He stopped in front of her.

"So you're saying you want me dead?" Veronica asked.

"Yes," Logan said simply.

OOO

Logan held up his hand, his fingers spread as he whispered, "Five more minutes," to an imaginary Keith. Veronica giggled as Logan sat back a little. "He should feel lucky. I mean, you could be out here with some pretty-boy jerk just looking to get laid."

He moved back to kiss her again when she suddenly pulled away. "Wait. What are you saying, you're not pretty?" she joked.

He smiled, shaking his head. "What I'm trying to say is I'm in love with you." Veronica's eyes sparkled, as a small smile settled on her lips.  
  
OOO

"Please wake up, please," Logan begged. "I can't live without you anymore. God, I sound so melodramatic – but it's true. I love you."

"Logan?" Keith said from the doorway. "I think you should leave her now." 

Logan wiped his cheeks with the back of sleeve before he turned to look at Keith. "Give me another minute? I know you already gave me time, but please…"

Keith nodded, looking unhappy, before disappearing again without a word.

Logan bent forward and gently kissed the side of Veronica's face, mindful of her bruises. "I swear I won't let you down again," he vowed. 

He frowned, glancing down. He could have sworn that the fingers wrapped around his own just moved. He stared unblinkingly at her face. Nothing happened. He sighed, feeling a pang of familiar disappointment. He gently unthreaded her fingers from his, immediately aching for their warmth.

"I'll come back and see you," he promised.

Her breath hitched for a second and his heart began to pound. "Veronica?" he said softly. He looked over his shoulder, to see if there was a doctor in sight. The hallway was empty.

"Logan?" Veronica mumbled and his gaze shot back to her blue eyes blinking at him in confusion.

"Oh god, Veronica," he replied, unable to help a smile.

"Wha- what's going on?" she asked groggily.

"You're okay," he said, reaching out and stroking her hair. "You're in the hospital."

"I feel like I swallowed sawdust," she croaked, her voice sounding raw.

"I'll get you some water," he said quickly. "I'll be back in a second."

He hurried out into the hallway and looked both ways, but it seemed like all the staff had suddenly disappeared. He decided to go the opposite way to which he had come. Finally he spotted a nurses station in relief and rushed up to the counter.

"Excuse me," he called, getting the attention of the nurse busy reading a file in front of her. "Veronica Mars, she just woke up."

"I'll alert a doctor," the nurse said, getting up and walking way. Logan spotted a jug of water and some plastic cups on a tray on the desk and grabbed them. He hurried back to the room when he heard voices.

Keith stood by the bed, next to an unknown guy who looked a little older than them, who was staring at Veronica. A doctor was standing over Veronica, listening to her heartbeat through her hospital gown.

"Hey, man," Wallace said from behind him, beaming. "She woke up when she heard Toby. She just opened her eyes as soon as she heard his voice. After we tried all day…"

Logan nodded slowly, clutching the water, wondering who the hell Toby was. "Right," was all said.

Toby smiled, before he lifted Veronica's hand up and pressed a soft kiss into her palm. "Glad to be of service," he said.

Keith glanced up at Logan, his expression dark; making it clear to Logan he knew _exactly_ what had happened. Keith looked back at Veronica, who was fighting desperately to stay awake, and his face softened.

OOO

TBC...


	3. Strawberry Breeze

**A/N:** Bold is Veronica's dreams.

"Sir?" Deputy Sacks said, poking his head around the door. "Keith Mars is here to see you."

Lamb sighed and motioned for him to be sent in. He didn't have to wait long for Keith to stride into his office, an angry look on his face.

"There are officers out there _sitting around_," Keith spat out, slamming his hand down on the table.

A glass of water near the edge of the table toppled over and shattered on the floor. Lamb glanced at it with a bored expression, before looking back into Keith's livid eyes. His face had gone red in his anger.

"The bastards that hurt my daughter are still out there," Keith continued furiously.

"I have all the people I can working around the clock," Lamb protested. "Not to mention every parent with a daughter at Hearst has called me _and_ the school has been on my ass every minute…"

"You better find them," Keith warned. "Your job is on the line here."

Lamb sat up straighter, a smirk on his lips. "And you'll do _what_ exactly? You can't fire me." He looked so annoyingly smug, and Keith gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Do you really think they'll elect you next time round with your track record? Just how many cases have been solved for you now?" Keith asked sarcastically. "I'm sure people would be interested to know you're sleeping with a young girl. People might think – what if that was my daughter? Find some leads and do your goddamn job."

Lamb flinched as Keith slammed the door behind him.

OOO

Veronica's eyes slowly fluttered shut as she curled up on the sofa, her blanket wrapped tightly around her. Her mom used to put her to bed at night when she was young, press a kiss against her forehead as she tucked the blanket around her and whisper that it would keep her safe. It had become something she carried with her even as she got older. As long as she was hidden by the blanket, she'd be safe.

**Everyone was casting looks of scorn and vicious amusement in her direction as she stumbled outside, heading towards a chair. She sat down and closed her eyes, hoping for the spinning to stop.**

She could smell Duncan's aftershave and felt herself being pulled away. His arms felt safe, secure but then she saw him clumsily walk off. She tried to follow him, but she lost sight of him. She wandered back into the house.

The liquid burnt as it slipped down her throat, coaxed by a seemingly soothing voice. She could feel lips on her own and she wanted to throw up, push the lips away, anything.

She wanted to tell him to stop, leave her alone. Her hands were pawing at her skin, bruising and tormenting. She wanted her arms to start cooperating with her again so she could shove the heavy weight away. She felt her underwear being yanked away and then a searing pain between her legs.  
  
Veronica jumped awake, her heart pounding in her chest and a churning feeling in her stomach. She rubbed her temple with her uninjured hand, relieved something had woken her up before the familiar dream continued.

_I have to say I'm glad to be out of hospital – being woken up every half an hour so my blood pressure could be checked does get annoying. I finally managed to convince my dad I was fine alone and I didn't need to be hovered over constantly. Course, now that Dad's gone back to the mayor's office, Wallace does all the hovering._

There was a quiet knock on the door, and she realised what had pulled her out of her dream. Veronica groaned at the jolt of pain from her wrist as she jogged it trying to unwrap herself from the blanket. She padded over to the door in her bare feet and opened it.

"Hey," Mac greeted. Her hair was up in a neat ponytail and she looked a lot brighter than Veronica felt. Veronica knew she looked a mess. She glanced down at her faded t-shirt and worn jeans and mentally shrugged it off. She hadn't been expecting anyone other than Wallace. "I didn't wake you, did I? I knocked gently in case you were asleep."

"Nah, I was awake," Veronica lied, before stepping back. "Come in."

Mac followed her in the living room. "Are you okay? You look really pale," Mac commented, looking worried.

"I'm fine, thanks," Veronica said, sitting back down as Mac took a seat at the opposite end of the sofa. "How about you?"

"I'm good." Mac glanced down at the bag in her hand. "I got some of the books you wanted from the library." Mac fished around in the bag and then held them out to Veronica. "They didn't have a couple of the list – there's probably a mad rush at the beginning of the year. I'll keep checking."

"Oh, thank you," Veronica said, taking them from her. She sighed. "I probably have so much to catch up on."

"Most classes go easy the first few weeks, I'm sure it won't be too bad," Mac said. "How is your recovery going? Your bruises are beginning to fade."

"Yeah, almost gone now," Veronica shrugged in a blasé tone. "The cast will be taken off my wrist soon and there is no permanent damage anywhere else, they don't think. I've seen an occupational therapist and a psychologist, who seem to think I'm fine. I get tired quickly, but other than that, it's all good. So how are things going between you and Matt?" Veronica asked.

"We're together," Mac confirmed. "Taking it slowly, but I really do like him. He came to visit me in the hospital and we've hung out loads since then."

"He seems like a good guy," Veronica smiled.

There was another knock on the door and Mac jumped up. "I'll get it, save you getting up again."

Wallace stepped through after Mac opened it, holding up the ice cream. "I come bearing your favourite ice cream and a selection of five, count 'em, _five_ different movies. Sorry, I didn't know you'd be here, Mac, or I'd have got you some ice cream as well," he apologised. Mac glanced at Wallace, before glancing away.

"She can share mine," Veronica offered, sensing the atmosphere. "I don't eat an _entire_ tub in one sitting, like some people." She smiled teasingly at her best friend, who was digging out bowls for the girls.

Wallace divided the ice cream up and held out the bowl to Mac. She looked hesitant for a moment before she said, "I've gotta go actually. I'll see you later, Veronica."

"Mac…" Veronica started.

"I've got assignments to do anyway." She walked over to the door and opened it, just as Keith was lifting his hand to unlock it from the other side.

"Hello, Mac, nice to see you," Keith smiled.

"Yeah, you too," she replied, clearly distracted as she brushed past him and left.

"She was in a hurry," Keith commented, before looking at her daughter. 

Veronica glanced away from her father, wanting to hide the dark circles under her eyes from his concerned stare. The scary part was that she felt worse than she looked – something she didn't want her father to have to worry about.

"How are you feeling, honey?" he asked.

"Stop fussing," Veronica half-heartedly complained and then looked over at Wallace, who was looking upset.

"She's upset about the drinks, isn't she? I swear I watched them the whole time. There was no possible way anyone could have come near them."

Veronica put her hand on his arm in comfort. "I'll talk to her. She'll get over it."

Keith went over to the fridge and began to rummage around for something that could be prepared quickly. He pulled out some bread and cheese and began to prepare a sandwich.

"I, of all people, should know better than to leave a drink sitting around," Veronica continued quietly. "I never should have offered it to Mac."

"But it was safe. I watched it, I swear."

"I believe you," Veronica assured him.

Keith glanced over his shoulder at them.

"I've told you so many times," Keith said sternly, "you should always get your own drink, you should always watch how the bartender makes it and never leave it unattended. I won't even start on the fact you were both drinking and you aren't twenty one."

"I know, Dad," Veronica said tiredly, staring down at her lap. "Consider it lesson learned."

"Are there any leads?" Wallace asked. Veronica perked up in interest and turned to her father.

"Yeah, yeah. They are following some leads now," Keith said, not meeting either of their gazes. He wrapped the sandwich in a bag and placed it in his briefcase. "I've gotta get back to the office. Don't leave the house," he warned, planting a kiss on Veronica's head. 

Veronica rolled her eyes. "See you later, Dad." She picked up the pile of movies Wallace had put next to her with her good hand. "What did you get then?" she asked.

"Actually, I have something else to tell you," Wallace said, looking down at his lap.

"You've quit the basketball team and joined the synchronised swimmers?"

"It's Toby…"

"What about him?" Veronica asked, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"It's just… I was leaving work the other day, after doing a night shift, and I saw him…" Wallace trailed off.

"And?" Veronica prompted.

"He was with what looked like a gang, and they didn't like the type of guys you'd want your boyfriend hanging out with. I just thought you would want to know."

Veronica nodded slowly. "Thanks."

_Let's see, I've gone out with a drug dealer, an arsonist, a kidnapper, and a guy who committed a felony by destroying evidence. Why not add a gangbanger to the list? Do I know how to pick winners or what? Good going, Veronica._

OOO

She'd just managed to convince Wallace she would be fine if he left her alone and was getting ready for bed when the phone rang shrilly.

Thinking it was Wallace, she smiled as she picked up. "Yes, I can brush my teeth all by myself – only need one hand."

"Well… good to know," a voice replied that most definitely wasn't Wallace. She froze, his warm familiar tone washing over her. She softly snorted to herself.

_I spent hours this summer next to the phone, pathetically wishing for Logan to call and say it was all a mistake. Now, he finally calls and I'm not expecting it. It's ridiculous, really, seeing as how he's been phoning every day since I got out of hospital. So far I've always managed to let my dad take the calls. It completely slipped my mind he would probably be phoning tonight._

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm just fine and dandy," she said sarcastically. "How's LA? Still party central?"

"I have no idea," Logan replied honestly. "I haven't been there in weeks."

"Get tired off all the _fun_?" Veronica bit out. "Falling out of clubs drunk every night?"

"I haven't touched a drop since I saw you at the hospital, I swear. I'm… I'm actually in rehab," he admitted. "I checked in the day after you woke up. I've been doing everything I promised you I would."

Veronica remained silent, her knuckles white as she clutched the phone.

"I was fucking everything up," Logan said softly, trying desperately to explain again now she was awake. "I couldn't get through a day without being blind drunk and I was messing up your life, just like last summer. I had to leave before I made things worse. I'm trying to sort my life out, so maybe I can try and _not_ screw up again with us."

"I am glad for you, Logan," Veronica said quickly. "It's great you're in rehab and that you're trying. But I've moved on. I have a boyfriend, and I'm happy with him."

She heard Logan take a sharp intake of breath. There was a long pause before he said, "I made you a promise that I wouldn't let you down and that I'd stay with you. I'm going to stick to my promise and nothing you say will make me break it."

"Good luck with rehab," she said quietly, before putting the phone back on the hook. She reached up to her face and was surprised to find her cheeks were wet. She sighed and buried her face into the sofa.

OOO

Wallace leaned forward and turned the air conditioner up. It was another muggy Californian evening and his forehead was covered in a thin layer of perspiration. He'd always thought stakeouts had an edge of glamour to them, but now he was sitting in his boiling hot car, at one in the morning, bored out of his mind and desperate to pee - he was re-evaluating that thought. He didn't know how Veronica had managed to keep it up for so long without complaint, along with keeping her grades up and working shifts at the Hut.

He had followed Toby to a bar where he disappeared for a few hours, as Wallace sat safely parked across the street. Other than a couple of people he wouldn't want his Grandma to ever meet going in through the door, there hadn't been much sign of life until Toby reappeared again with two people. They had milled around in the car park outside the bar as good few more people joined them. Wallace pulled out the camera Veronica had lent him and snapped a number of shots.

His phone vibrated and he picked it up.

"Hey, Veronica," he greeted.

"What's happening?" she asked and Wallace noted the edge of frustration in her tone, as guilt gnawed at him once again. He knew she hated not knowing what was going on, and not being able to leave the house must have been driving her slowly insane.

"They don't seem to be _doing_ anything, just standing around talking," Wallace informed her.

"Have you taken pictures?"

"Loads," Wallace told her.

"Call it a night then?" Veronica offered.

"I'll stick around for a little while longer," Wallace said. "See if anything else happens."

"Don't you have work tomorrow?" Veronica asked.

"It's cool. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." He hung up the phone and settled down to continue watching them.

OOO

Keith walked into his office and sat down heavily in his chair. The warm orange and yellow surroundings of his office, which might have been soothing to some people, made Keith feel uncomfortable. With a pang, he missed his office at Mars Investigations. It was simple and there was nothing stylish about it, but after spending many hours of the past three years of his life there, it felt like an extension of his home. The office he was sitting in had been stripped of anything that had belonged to Woody Goodman but there was still something stifling about it, something Keith couldn't quite put his finger on.

He pressed the button on the intercom and waited for Beverly to answer.

"Mr Mars?"

"Do I have any messages?" Keith asked.

"Don Lamb called awhile ago and asked you call him back," Beverly informed him. "Oh, and I've shifted all your appointments to the morning for the next week, so you can spend your afternoons with your daughter. Is that okay?"

Keith smiled warmly. "Thank you very much, that's really thoughtful of you."

He pressed the button on the intercom to hang up, before he picked the phone receiver up. The Sheriff's office was on speed dial and he wrinkled his nose as it began to ring. Don Lamb was _not_ someone Keith Mars wanted to have on speed dial – ever.

Lamb answered and Keith asked what he wanted.

"We found the van," Lamb told him simply. "It matched the description given and it was abandoned a few miles out of Neptune on the beach."

"Right," Keith said.

"Some items were found in it…" Lamb trailed off, almost sounding uncomfortable. "Some rope, a camera and some hair shearers."

"Thanks for letting me know," Keith replied evenly, then hung up the phone. He turned around, clenched his fist and punched the wall.

OOO

Mac had arrived home an hour ago, and had lain on her bed ever since, staring at the ceiling. Every time Sarah had tried to start a conversation, Mac had been monosyllabic in her replies. She'd wanted to the put the TV on, or put some music on, but Sarah didn't want to disturb her. But enough was enough. "Are you okay?" Sarah finally asked, stubbing out the cigarette she was smoking by the open window.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mac replied quickly, before she slowly turned to look at Sarah, who walked back over to her bed and sat down cross-legged. She cracked open a bottle of Mountain Dew and took a swig. "I'm just tired of it, you know?"

"Tired of what?" Sarah asked curiously.

"People letting me down."

"Like… your ex?" Sarah hesitantly asked. Mac frowned as she sat up, tucking her knees under her chin. "I'm a gossip magazine junkie," Sarah explained. "I read all about what happened. Well, what was in the news at least. I thought your name was familiar, and then it clicked when Veronica visited."

"Oh, right," Mac said slowly, but didn't offer any additional information. She checked her watch and stood up. She walked over to her closet and picked out her coat.

"Hey, Matt and I are going to get dinner, why don't you phone Scott and get him to meet us there – double date. Hurry though, I'm starving."

Sarah nodded, jumping up from the bed. "Oh, pins and needles!" she exclaimed, freezing in place. Mac giggled as she found her purse.

OOO

Wallace sat on the floor with Backup's head resting on his knee. He absentmindedly stroked the dog's glossy head. Veronica sat on her computer chair, shuffling through the photographs she had just printed out.

"What should I do?"

"About Toby?" Veronica asked in confusion.

"About Mac," Wallace clarified. "Should I talk to her again, apologise?"

"I'd give her time to cool off," Veronica said sympathetically. "She'll come to her senses."

"And what do you think about the photos?"

"Not bad for a beginner. The lighting is kinda off and we really need to go over what the telephoto lens is for…"

"I meant about Toby," Wallace interrupted with an exasperated look.

Veronica's computer pinged and she looked up to see she had a new email from Leo. She clicked on it and waited for it to email to load.

"Okay, Leo recognises quite a few of the guys in the pictures. He said a couple were questioned in regards to a murder, but nothing was ever proven. A number of the others have done time for assault and battery. He's given a list of the names, so I can run checks on them."

"So, nice people then," Wallace commented as Veronica fired back a quick thank you.

Veronica sighed wearily. "Seems that way."

OOO

Wallace opened the door to his room cautiously, glancing around for his roommate. Seeing the room was clear, he breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door behind him. He'd almost reached the bed, when a voice wavered pitifully through the air.

"I've labelled everything."

He span around to see Ross crouched in front of the small fridge they shared, a black marker on his hand.

"Please don't steal my food," he continued.

Wallace frowned. "Nah, man, I wouldn't." He glanced over Ross' shoulder to see every item of food that wasn't Wallace's had his name on in block capitals. He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he threw himself on the bed. He reached out to his bedside table and flicked the radio on.

Barely a minute went by before Ross said, "Do you mind turning that off? Music gives me a headache."

Wallace sighed, flicked it off and got to his feet. "I'm going out." He left the room without a backward glance.

OOO

Mac loved the feel of sand between her toes. She also knew it was a complete cliché, so felt guilty about it. But she just couldn't help it. There was just something the feel of the damp grains squishing down under her feet, leaving her mark. She wriggled her big toe as Sarah turned around.

"Keep up!" she called. Mac smiled and hurried to catch the three of them up as they walked along the beach. She fought back a groan as her stomach protested against the motion after stuffing herself with pizza. She knew she should have said no to the last slice.

"So, Matt, truth or dare?" Sarah asked, her curls dancing about her face in the wind.

Mac rolled her eyes in amusement. There was something juvenile and enthusiastic about Sarah, yet you just couldn't help going along with her antics. Whether it be talking them into visiting the fairground, buying cheap liquor with Scott's fake ID and now a walk on the beach.

"Truth," Matt answered. Mac's eyes flitted over him greedily as his attention was on Sarah, taking in the cut of his abs showing through his fitted t-shirt.

"Do you have any phobias?"

A faint blush stole across his cheeks and he looked down at the sand. "Um, maybe."

"Spill!" Sarah shrieked. "You _have_ to."

"It is the rules," Scott laughed.

"_MyLittlePonies_," he mumbled quickly. 

"What?" Mac asked in confusion.

"My Little Pony. You know, the kids toys." He glanced up to see them all looking at him in amused bewilderment before they all started to laugh.

"What?" he snapped. "They're fucking scary!"

"That's the weirdest phobia ever, dude," Scott said, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Sarah, truth or dare?" Matt asked.

"Dare."

"I dare you to…" he glanced around, looking for an idea. His gaze came to rest on the half a bottle of wine Scott was holding. "Down the drink."

"All of it?" she asked, taking the bottle.

"Not that much left," Scott said.

She lifted the bottle to her lips and began to chug it down, her throat muscles moving in time to the gulps.

Mac laughed out loud. "You're going to have such a hangover!" she called.

Sarah finished with a flourish, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, and throwing the bottle away with her other.

"Litter lout," Mac protested, picking it back up.

"Mac, truth or dare?" Scott asked.

Mac sighed begrudgingly. "Truth," she said finally.

"Who did you lose your virginity to?" Scott asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Mac went cold as it felt like the air deflated from her lungs. Sarah's eyes flitted over her to see how she was taking it, before she turned and smacked him in the chest, hard. "You don't ask someone something like that," she hissed. "Especially when you barely know them."

Scott held up his hands. "I'm sorry! I was only joking."

"Typical men, they just don't think," Sarah continued her tirade. "I'm so sorry, Mac. He's not housetrained."

Mac managed a smile as Matt put his hand on her back, looking at her in concern. "It's okay," she said. "Shall we head home now?"

OOO

Veronica shot a sideward glance at Toby, who was lounging next to her as they watched a movie. Her feet were tucked neatly against his legs, and she could feel his heat radiating from him. She wanted to shuffle next to him and feel his arms around her, losing herself in his warm, spicy scent.

_I should have known he was too good to be true – it was like waiting for the other shoe to drop, and finally, it has._

"What?" Toby laughed, looking up and catching her gaze on him. She looked away, studying her hands. "You've been very quiet tonight," he commented.

Veronica reached down by the side of the sofa where she had slipped the brown envelope earlier. She handed it to him silently.

He gave her a confused look. "It's not my birthday quite yet, babe," he smirked. She didn't respond and he slid the photographs out. Toby looked through the pile and then looked at her. "Ah," he said.

"Ah? That's it – ah?" Veronica snapped.

"Well, it explains the attitude," Toby commented. "What do you know?"

"You've been seen with them, they aren't the friendliest crowd…" Veronica leaned forward, waiting for his explanation.

"Do you know who the people are in the photos?" he asked.

"Mostly."

"This one," Toby said, pointing at a younger looking boy, standing in the group. "Do you know who he is?"

Veronica looked down at the picture and shook her head.

"His name's Ryan Lewis, he's seventeen," Toby explained. "His ma died not that long ago and he's been pretty screwed up since. He started mixing with this crowd – mainly dealing for them. He realised what an idiot he was being and wanted out, but they didn't take too kindly to that." He sighed and looked away.

Veronica looked down at her lap as he continued. "I told you some of my background, right? It was a struggle to survive where I come from; you had to know people – the right people. And I was always pretty damn good at surviving." Toby shrugged. "Ryan, he's my little cousin and it's always been drummed into me that you should take care of your family. I was just helping him out – getting to know the right people and getting him out of this mess. He's a good kid really."

Veronica's eyes remained cast downwards.

"Why don't you look him up? Run your background searches, or whatever. You'll see I'm telling you the truth."

Veronica looked at him uncertainly then got up and walked into her room. He followed and watched as she verified his story.

She bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Damn," Toby said, with a mix of concern and amusement. "The last guy you dated really did a number on you, didn't he?"

"And all those that came before," she said simply. "I should have believed you."

Toby shrugged. "And I should have told you what I was doing. I just didn't want to worry you while you were still getting better." Veronica stood up and he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face into his chest, closing her eyes as he gently kissed the top of her head. "I'll take care of you, Veronica. I'm not like the other guys you've dated."

His hands slowly slid down her arms as she lifted her head up to meet his mouth. Their lips pressed, slowly at first, until her arms threaded around his neck, pulling him closer. She breathed in his spiced apple scene as he walked backwards towards the bed, until he sat down heavily. She climbed onto his lap, their mouths still attached to one another. She pushed him down and he laid back, his fingers slowly travelling down her sides, into every dip between her ribs. Her skin tingled where his fingers were, trailing little paths of heat until they came to rest on her hips. She laughed as he moaned lightly as her fingers slid up underneath his t-shirt. 

Toby twisted and rolled, so she lay beneath him, his hands continuing to move, until she felt them at her waistband. She kissed him harder, trying to distract him as the heat slowly turning cooler as he moved towards the button of her jeans. Icy slivers gripped at her chest, and her breath caught.

Her hands travelled to the front of his shoulders, where she placed her palms.

"Stop," she demanded, unable to keep the edge of panic from her voice. "Please."

Instantly, he pulled back, concern flitting across his face. "Are you okay?"

She couldn't meet his eyes as she sat up quickly, relieved as the fear scampered away and revelling in the feeling of freedom now his weight wasn't clamping down on her.

"Yeah, fine," she said breezily. "Just my dad…"

His hand slid on top of hers, and she could feel the warmth once more. "It's okay," he said reassuringly.

"No, no, just my dad…" she said again. "He'll be back soon."

OOO

"And you believe him?" Wallace asked.

"Yeah, I do," Veronica said softly, curled up next to him on the sofa.

"Then I do as well," Wallace said firmly, holding out a packet of milk bottles for her to take. She smiled before stealing the whole packet.

"Well if you eat all those, you won't have any room for the gummy bears," Wallace warned.

Veronica gasped. "You would withhold gummy bears from me?" She shifted as her expression turned serious. "I like Toby," she said. "I really do. But… I don't think I could ever love him."

"Never?" Wallace asked. "I know you've been burned, badly – but can you really say never?"

"You know, I think I finally get my mom," Veronica said, her expression far away as she gazed past Wallace. "She loved this guy, a lot, but she settled for the good guy, the one that wouldn't mess her around."

Wallace nodded sympathetically. "Staying away from Logan, it's probably for the best."

"Yeah," Veronica replied firmly. "I think so."

_Before Lilly died, my mom had this scent about her – she said it was her perfume, but I could never find the bottle in her bedroom and she always told me she'd get it later when I asked. Later never happened. I once spent hours searching in the stores for it; I wanted to buy a bottle to surprise her on her birthday. I never did find it. After Lilly died, the scent went away and she began to carry around water bottles. After she left, I was at a party and I smelled it again. I located the source and found it to be an alcoholic drink called _Strawberry Breeze._ Mom may have chosen dad over Jake Kane – but was she ever happy? All I know is, I'm not my mother._

OOO

Keith finished filing away the last of the resorted housing applications and sat down at his desk. He flicked through the pile of resumes, and jotted down some additional notes ready for the interviews that were set to take place the following day.

He checked his watch; if he left now he could make it home in time to make Veronica lunch. He could even pick up some steak on the way home and have a barbeque – they hadn't had one in so long. But first, he had some business to do. He picked up the phone and quickly dialled a number.

"I've reconsidered your job offer," he said grimly.

OOO  
_  
TBC in 'The Fallen Man'. Coming soon!_


	4. The Fallen Man

Wallace stepped through the doorway of Java the Hut, breathing in the scent of fresh coffee. He was instantly taken back to mornings at home, when the first thing his mom did was put a fresh pot on in the morning. It was the little things he missed, now that he was living in the dorms.

He walked past empty seats and swung up onto a barstool. He pulled a newspaper, lying abandoned on the counter, toward him. Leaning forward onto the granite countertop, he grimaced, realising it was wet. Under closer inspection, it looked just like water. He hoped. He glanced up and watched Veronica making polite conversation with a scruffy customer who stunk to high heaven. She turned and began to make the requested drink. The shrieking of the machine drowned out whatever the guy was continuing to babble about to her back. Veronica turned and held out the drink and Wallace frowned when he noticed the dark rings circling her eyes. She was pretty damn white to begin with, but now she looked positively drained. He could tell from the tremor in her hand, as she continued to hold out the drink to the wack-job, she clearly should have been still tucked up at home, in front of the TV with chicken soup on tap.

"You're crazy," Wallace snorted. She turned to him with a slow, tired smile as the guy ambled off.

"Hello, Veronica. How are you? I'm _really_ good thanks," Veronica replied sarcastically.

"You shouldn't be working," Wallace said, ignoring her theatrics with a shake of his head and a disapproving look on his face. "Didn't your dad give you the 'take it easy' lecture?"

Veronica nodded, as she slid open the glass door and pulled the chocolate cake out.

"Don't think you can distract me with food, either," Wallace warned, as she cut a slice and put it on a plate. "It won't work!" he protested as she slid it across the counter to him. He narrowed his eyes, trying desperately hard not look at it. "I'm not that easy…" He gave in and shoved some in his mouth, groaning in ecstasy as the sweet chocolate melted in his mouth.

Veronica laughed, knowing she'd won the battle. "One of the girls got sick, and they were desperate for cover."

"Are you still planning to get a job on campus?" he asked, his mouth still full of cake.

Veronica gave him a mildly disgusted look as she nodded. "If I could get one, it would be helpful and easier work around class."

"I've got my first game tomorrow," Wallace reminded her.

"I haven't forgotten," she soothed. She grinned at him, looking noticeably lighter. "Toby and I will be there, with bells and whistles and matching cheerleader outfits…"

Wallace shuddered. "As funny, and well, disturbing, as it would be to see the tough guy from East LA in a cheerleaders outfit… please don't."

Veronica laughed. "I'll try and convince him not to, but once he has an idea in his head…"

"You've seen this?" Wallace asked quietly, sliding the newspaper across the bar to her.

'_Hearst Rapist Strikes Again_' the headline screamed. Veronica skimmed it as the feeling of nausea built. A girl of eighteen, Fiona Gerald. Arts student. Drugged and raped after attending a party and woke up with her head shaved. Veronica's jaw locked as she tasted the acid burning the back of her throat.

She glanced up and noticed a customer come in. "Let me seat this guy and I'll be right back," she said, her face carefully blank and her voice suspiciously neutral.

OOO

Mac lay stomach down on her bed, her laptop open in front of her. Her long hair brushed past her shoulders and kept falling in front of her eyes. Annoyed, she flicked it back again. She'd offered to help a girl living in the same hall as her with her computer a few days ago, and word had travelled fast that Mac was good with computers. Soon she had an inbox full of people requesting her help over trivial little requests. She wouldn't have minded, but not many offered to pay and got tetchy when she asked for it. Not to mention all were stupidly easy tasks that didn't offer her a much craved-for challenge. Her fingers itched for a decent new program to crack, something to encode or a tough website to hack.

She sighed as she quickly typed a response recommending a decent spyware program and hit send. She reached up and pulled the screen down in frustration, the light in her room dimming to suit her mood. Mac swivelled around so her feet were on the floor and her arms were locked by her side as she pondered what she could do.

It was times like this that she almost missed being at home. Even when she felt isolated from her family, there was always a parent around to go and talk to, a brother to annoy and argue with or the dog to take for a walk.

Mac reached out to her bedside drawers and pulled out a pile of CDs. She flicked through, looking for something loud and angry. Her finger landed on a Blue October album and she froze. Her chest felt tight as she stared at the innocent looking cover. Her blue eyes filled with tears that she angrily swiped away with the back of her hand.

He didn't deserve her tears, but her chest ached with a longing she'd felt ever since Veronica had quietly told her that Cassidy had jumped to his death after admitting to all the murders. She couldn't equate the boy whose palms got sweaty when he was nervous and that had warm brown eyes which lit up when he saw her, with the cruel, harsh words she found out he really was.

Mac wanted to make a fresh start at Hearst. She'd let her hair grown even longer, taken out the coloured stripes and had thrown away everything she owned that she could connect to Beaver Casablancas. She had met Matt, who had a sparkling sense of humour, confidence radiating from every pore, and for some reason wanted her. She stood up and picked up Sarah's lighter that was strewn amongst the clutter on her desk. She opened the case and took the CD out. 

Mac held the CD out and clicked the button of the lighter down, holding it in the bright frame. It began to slowly shrink and the acrid smell of plastic burning hit her nostrils. It felt therapeutic to see the last possession of Cassidy's she owned shrink into a black mess and the weight she'd felt for her months eased slightly. She stood up and threw the remains into the waste paper basket, along with the case.

The door suddenly burst open and Sarah rushed in, her cheeks streaming with tears, her face flushed and her hair looking wildly wind-swept.

"What's wrong?" Mac asked in concern.

"It's Scott," Sarah blurted out. "He's dead."

OOO

Campus seemed busier than usual, as Veronica walked through the centre. She flicked through her criminology book, skimming over the chapter as she walked. She had a paper due in a few days time that she hadn't even started yet, not to mention the looming deadline for her psychology project.

She glanced up and frowned as someone hurried up to a group of students. Her eyes narrowed as she watched them speak in hushed tones, before they all rushed off. Veronica looked around, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Veronica waved as she saw Toby heading towards her. His face lit up as he spotted her and his footsteps quickened.

"Hello, stranger," she said, kissing him in greeting.

"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes," Toby replied. "Campus wasn't the same without you."

"How did you cope the last two years?" Veronica asked, her eyes widening.

"It was very hard, but then, I hadn't met you, so I didn't know what I was missing," Toby said with a teasing smile. "Seriously though, how are you feeling?"

Veronica groaned, having already had the third degree from her dad and Wallace. "I'm fine, thank you. Ready to start breaking hearts and busting kneecaps."

"Not my heart, I hope," Toby joked, before adding, "Should you really be out so soon?"

Veronica groaned. "You sound like my dad. God knows what would happen if you, dad and Wallace got together. You'd probably pool all your money for that Veronica-sized hamster ball."

"Now _that's_ an excellent idea," Toby said, looking quite struck at the thought.

"Don't even," Veronica laughed, swatting him gently in the chest.

He held up a leaflet. "Wallace mentioned you were looking for a job on campus. Tequila Mockingbird is looking for staff."

"Ooh," Veronica replied, taking the leaflet. "Sounds perfect."

"My friend Josh works there, he can put in a good word for you."

"The English one?" Veronica asked and Toby nodded.

Veronica's phone beeped and she pulled it out her messenger bag. "I've gotta go," she said, rushing off before Toby could ask where.

OOO

The room was darkened, the curtains pulled across the window to stop the bright sunlight from streaming in. Scrunched up tissues were scattered on the floor in front of Sarah's bed, looking like some kind of weird decoration.

"What happened?" Veronica asked, sinking down on Mac's bed. Sarah was sitting on her own bed, her knees up to her chin and a box on Kleenex next to her. Mac hovered by her, with a glass of water in her hand.

"They found him this morning, outside Stevenson Hall." She stopped as she sobbed, wiping frantically at the tears free falling down her face with a scrunched up tissue. "He'd fallen."

"Out of a window?" Veronica asked. She looked at the girl sympathetically, knowing what Sarah was going through. She had been a wreck when Lilly had died and when she thought her dad had been killed. It was like she was being crushed, and she'd never be able to breathe again. There was nothing worse than having someone ripped away from you.

"I don't know," she said tearfully. "It doesn't make any sense! He doesn't even live there. I don't think he even _knows_ anyone that lives there."

"Where does he live?"

"He lives on Barrack Street, the other side of campus, the little red-bricked houses. Number three. He lives there with his two best friends, Jamie and John."

Veronica quickly scribbled it down in her notebook. "Do you know what he was doing last night? Or, what he said he was going to be doing, anyway."

"He said he had a paper to finish and he'd meet me for breakfast today."

"Thanks, Sarah," Veronica said, getting up off the bed. "I am sorry," she finished awkwardly. She glanced up at Mac who nodded.

"I'll call you later, Veronica," Mac said as Veronica left the room.

OOO

Wallace glanced over at his roommate, who was perched at the end of his bed. His pale face gleamed in the shadows of the room. He insisted on keeping the blind shut during the day. His inky black eyes were fixed on the plate he was holding with a sandwich on it. He had been for the last half an hour.

Wallace cleared his throat. "Not hungry?" he joked.

Ross didn't even look up. "Not really."

Wallace sniffed and glanced away, feeling uncomfortable. "I've got a game later, basketball… First one of the season. You're welcome to come and watch."

"Sports are the downfall of society."

Wallace nodded. "Right." He got to his feet and grabbed his bag. "Well, see you later."

OOO

The room was a dull eggshell white, offset by a number of large abstract pictures that looked like they'd been drawn by a three year old. They reminded Logan of a couple of pictures Aaron used to have on the wall of his study, painted by Trina in her artistic phase at ten years old, before they were replaced by posters of Aaron himself. Logan missed those crappy pictures. He despised having to stare at the overly large pictures of his father posing with a gun, or with his bad Joe Dirt hair in the 80's. Mainly because the father in question was taking an inordinate amount of pleasure in getting the buckle to hit his back in exactly the same spot every time, as he did so.

Joe, his therapist, tapped his pen on his gleaming teeth, his ankle jogging against the chair leg. Logan narrowed his eyes and glared at the shiny black shoe, with the sock neatly folded over. He wondered what that said about _him_. Anally retentive, as Freud would have noted. But, what the hell did he know. Dude had issues coming out of his ears.

"You mention a girl a lot," Joe said. Ah, the loaded statement.

Logan sighed and leaned back in the puffy, red, vinyl chair. He ran his thumbnail along the armrest and realised what he thought was a seam was a long crack. He wondered how many people had sat here before in discomfort, fidgeting under a therapist's scrutiny as they revealed their darkest, innermost secrets.

Over the past month, they'd talked about his parents with a lot of quick quips and wit, Lilly with a little less. They had talked about the reasons he had started drinking, and he was starting to get really, really sick of the phrase, 'So, how does that make _you_ feel?'

Of course they were going to get to her.

"Veronica?" Logan asked. Joe nodded. "I wouldn't say a lot. I mean, yeah, I've mentioned her name."

"I'd say she comes up most frequently in sessions. More than anyone else. You mentioned she was the reason you checked in here in the first place. Tell me about that."

"I let her down. Hell, I've let everyone around me down. But, Veronica... I've really fucked up there." He could picture the look on her face as he broke her heart with perfect clarity. He could see her crouched next to him as he threw up in the toilet. He could see the tears filling her eyes as Kendall slid her arms around him.

"What makes you think that?" Joe asked.

"I blamed her for things - the things that happened to Lilly - and I went out of my way to hurt her."

"How did you do that?"

Logan shrugged. "I don't like to talk about it." Joe's eyes continued to bore into him, and he continued, "Let's just say, she was one of the people I'd always counted on, and I made her life a living hell."

"So you're ashamed of your behaviour?"

"Yes, dammit. Of course I am," Logan said angrily.

"Have you ever apologised to her?" 

Logan laughed bitterly. "I tried, but then she accused me of killing Lilly." His arms folded tightly across his chest.

"And how did that make you feel?"

"How do you think?" Logan spat. "I was angry, hurt. I couldn't believe she could think that, even for a second."

"So, as well as being ashamed of your behaviour, you also harbour some anger towards her?"

"I dunno. I can't be angry with Veronica. Everything that happened between us was my fault. I hurt her. I wasn't honest with her..." Logan trailed off.

"Everything? That's a vast statement. If you were so awful, why do you think she dated you?"

A puzzled look crossed his face before the shutter came back down again. "I don't know. Maybe she's got bad taste in men."

Joe's eyebrow rose. "But you mentioned before that you dated more than once?" Logan nodded. "There must be a reason she kept going back to you."

He shrugged. "You'd have to ask Veronica."

"Is it fair to say you think you aren't worthy enough to have a girlfriend?"

"No, but I'm not worthy of her."

Joe scribbled furiously and Logan's curiosity rose. He'd love to know what Joe was writing. Of course, if Veronica was here, she'd find a way to sneak into the office after hours and steal the file. Or maybe just bug the office, and save the trouble.

"What makes her so special?" Joe asked.

Logan frowned, trying to conjure up the words to describe the girl that held his heart with a tight fist. "She's tries to be a good person."

"But you're here, aren't you? What is it you'd like to achieve by being here?"

Logan sighed. "Your first love… it's supposed to be all about, sneaking out of class for make-out sessions, groping on the backseat and finally popping her cherry at the high school prom. Imagine your girlfriend, the girl you've always loved - is murdered and everything just goes to goddamn hell. Then, imagine you find out it was your father who killed her, and to top that off, he was fucking her too."

Logan felt his stomach tighten as he remembered the tapes. Lilly riding his father in the pool house. Her breathy voice moaning his father's name. Aaron's face clenching as he orgasmed. And, suddenly, Logan wanted a drink. Hell, he wanted a bottle. He shivered before looking up at his shrink, and tried to keep the choking sound out of his voice.

"And then your mother takes a nosedive off a bridge and your father gets a bullet through his head. There isn't enough alcohol around to make that go away. Believe me, I tried to drown my proverbial sorrows and it just doesn't work. I need to find a way to deal with this shit or, I'm not gonna make it."

Joe nodded with a faint smile. "Now we're getting there. Veronica may be the catalyst, but you're here for your own reasons." He flipped his folder shut. "Good session, Logan. See you next week."

OOO

Students milled around, trying to see past the tape cordoning off the death scene. Veronica spotted Lamb and Sacks standing by a squad car, talking. Lamb had a cup of coffee in his hand and he laughed at something Sacks said, before he turned over and leaned into the car. Veronica realised he was changing the radio station and she gritted her teeth as she felt a flicker of anger. She pushed her way past two girls taking pictures, noticing one had a _Hearst News_ badge pinned to her shirt. 

The body had been removed and all that remained was the chalk outline and a splatter of crimson around it. Veronica's shielded her eyes from the sun as she glanced up. The building was five stories high. She glanced around to check that Lamb hadn't seen her, before she hurried away from the death scene towards the back of the building. She quickly let herself in through the backdoor and jogged up the stairs.

Veronica walked along the hallway, counting the doors until she got to the same amount of doors across as to how many windows along Scott's body was. She knocked on the door and she heard movement. The door clicked open and a dark haired girl dressed in baggy dungarees stood there.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Hi, I'm from the _Hearst News_," she said. "I was just wondering if you'd let me in to take some pictures from this view point of the crime scene."

"Crime scene? I heard some people say it was a suicide."

"Well, it's a crime scene until it's proven what happened," Veronica said.

The girl nodded and stepped back into her room. "Sure, take the pictures." Veronica walked into the room and her gaze was immediately drawn to the massive mural on the wall. It depicted an underwater scene, complete with an array of brightly coloured fish, and a stunning depiction of what looked like the Great Barrier Reef. The deep blue hues at the bottom gradually got lighter and met with a lighter aquamarine at the top of the wall.

"Wow," Veronica exclaimed.

The girl ducked her head and blushed. "You like?"

"It's _amazing_," Veronica said. "Do you mind if I take some pictures of it? Just… it's so pretty." 

The girl nodded. "Go ahead."

Veronica lifted her camera and snapped a number of shots. It had been a long time since she'd taken a picture just because she'd wanted to, that had nothing to do with a case or any kind of tawdriness. She used to fill her wall with random snapshots she'd take on a whim, and she realised she missed it. Veronica walked over to the window, put her hand on the lock and tugged. It opened a few centimetres and then jammed.

"Oh, you won't be able to open that," the girl said. Veronica turned and looked at her in confusion. "All the windows above the first floor have safety locks on them, I guess to prevent drunken accidents or whatever."

"So to fall – you'd have to be on the roof?" Veronica asked. The girl nodded. Veronica lifted her camera up again and awkwardly took a few shots of the ground as best she could.

"Did you hear anything last night?" Veronica asked her. "Anything strange or unusual?"

The girl frowned, looking like she was deep in thought. "Actually, I did. I'm sure I heard someone shouting 'pledges' late last night. It woke me up, and I heard some voices, but I fell back asleep."

"Pledges, like – fraternity pledges?"

The girl nodded. "That's what I took it to be."

"Thanks very much," Veronica said as she made her way out.

OOO

Veronica walked up the neat pathway to the house that Scott had lived in. The window sills were painted in bright colours and the brick work looked new. It definitely looked like the more expensive accommodation to live in, compared to the dorms. The cars had turned from Hondas and Toyotas on central campus to Volvos and Audis the further along she walked. Each house had a little well-kept garden out the front. Veronica reached the third house along and knocked on the pale blue door.

A sleepy looking guy opened the door, his hair sticking up in all direction. He was only clad in sweatpants and he scratched his bare chest before he grunted, "Hello."

"Hi there. I'm Veronica Mars, a friend of Scott's girlfriend. Can I come in please?" The guy grunted and Veronica barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

He padded back in through the house. Veronica followed, glancing at the messy rooms. Food encrusted plates were strewn about on the floor, some sporting mould. Crushed plastic cups littered the hallway and random items of clothing lay screwed up.

He stopped in the kitchen and motioned to the fridge. "Want a drink?"

Veronica glanced at the encrusted mugs on the worktop and shook her head. "I'm good thanks. Sorry, I didn't catch your name…" she said pointedly.

"Jamie," he offered, pouring water into a coffee machine and turned it on. "Jamie West."

"Right, Jamie. May I ask…" She stopped, realising he'd only just got out of bed. "Have you heard about Scott?" she asked hesitantly.

"What about him?" he asked.

"He was found dead this morning, he appeared to have fallen off a building on campus," Veronica explained.

Jamie turned to look at her, shock written all over his face. "Dead? Oh god…"

"I'm so sorry," Veronica said sympathetically. She waited for a second for him to collect himself a bit more before she asked, "Any idea what he was doing last night?"

"No, no," he said quickly. "No idea."

"During the day?"

He shrugged. "Classes, studying, seeing Sarah? Who knows. We don't usually know each others plans in detail."

"Do you know if Scott was pledging to be in any frat?" she asked.

"A frat?" Jamie asked. "Um… not that I know of."

"Yeah, he was," a voice said from the doorway. Veronica turned to see a sandy haired boy step through the doorway.

"John?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, then looked at Jamie in confusion. "Jamie, you know he was pledging for the Phi Sigma Sigmas with you."

"Oh, yeah," Jamie said slowly. "I just… forgot."

John's brow wrinkled, giving him a strange look. "So why do you want to know about Scott?"

Veronica opened her mouth, ready to tell him when Jamie interrupted.

"It's okay, I'll tell him." Jamie gripped John's arm and pulled him out the room. She heard muffled voices for awhile before she heard the faint sound of sobbing. Veronica quickly rummaged around in her bag and found a bug. She clambered up onto the worktop and placed it on top of the cupboard. She hopped back down again and rubbed frantically at the dirt on her knees.

Jamie walked back in, looking even more upset, his own eyes red-rimmed.

Veronica took a post-note out of her bag and scribbled her number down on it. She held it out to Jamie. "If you remember anything, could you please let me know? And I'm very sorry again."

Jamie nodded, looking like he was in shock.

As she walked down the path outside, she glanced back at him, gazing into space before he jumped and shut the door. He clearly knew something; it was just a question of what. Her phone beeped as she walked back down the path and she retrieved it from her pocket and opened the text message.

_'Josh says if you go and see the manager today; you'll prob get the job. See you soon. Toby. x.'_

OOO

Veronica sat at a table at Tequila Mockingbird, slowly sipping at her coke. Only a few students sat in the darkened booths at the back, otherwise it was empty. The manager walked across the bar and sat down opposite her. His t-shirt was slightly too tight, and tucked unflatteringly into his pants. Veronica spotted a bald patch starting in his dark hair as he glanced down at the application she had filled out.

His brown eyes fixed on her as he began to talk, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Veronica, I just had to refill the coffee machine."

"No problem," Veronica replied.

"Looks like you've been to Iraq," the manager said, motioning towards her bandaged wrist.

"Heh, you could say that," Veronica said. "It's almost healed though."

"Okay, good. I've just got a few questions. Just basic stuff."

Veronica shook her head. "Okay."

"Have you got any experience working in a place like this?"

"I worked at Java the Hut for a year as a hostess, and also covered the tables during busier times."

The manager smiled. "Excellent. The job would entail serving the drinks and the light food we sell during the day and evening. Pay is seven dollars an hour, plus tips. At night, we turn into a bar. As you're only nineteen, you won't be able to sell drinks, but you can do the door duty, which involves carding and stamping. There are always two people doing that, no one is ever alone. And also night duties would include clearing tables. It's as glamorous as that."

Veronica laughed. "Sounds perfect."

The manager stood up, holding out his hand, which Veronica took. "Then you've got the job. I'm Andrew, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Veronica smiled.

"Shifts will be assigned tomorrow. Let Josh know your schedule, and I'll see you when you start." Joe walked towards the back and Veronica looked over to see who she assumed was Josh coming towards her with two sundaes in his hand. His hair was shaved at the sides and as he walked, the light glimmered on him, revealing the spiked up centre to have streaks of blue brushed into it. He was wearing the same t-shirt as the manager, but his extra weight was pure muscle, and the cut clung to his abs.

"Congrats on the new job," he said, his accent confirming his identity as he slid into a chair in front of her.

"Thank you," she said with a grateful smile, taking the spoon. "And thanks for putting a good word in for me."

"Ah, Toby twisted my arm," he said with a wink.

OOO

Veronica winced as she slipped through the double doors leading to the basketball court and was assaulted by the dazzling lights. She squinted and held her hand up to eyes to protect them from the brightness. The court was nothing like the one at Neptune High, she noticed immediately. Everything at Hearst looked shiny and new. The floor gleamed like it had been polished and Veronica honestly wouldn't have been surprised. The college treated the basketball team like they were the second coming, and had obviously invested a lot of money into them. It even smelt fresher, although the scent of buttery popcorn and hotdogs tickled her senses and made her stomach rumble.

Veronica spotted Toby sitting on a bench, his arms folded as he gazed off into space. He looked cute and she quieted her footsteps as she approached him, although the noise the crowds of people were making blocked it out anyway. She dropped down next to him on the plush, padded bench and he jumped. She laughed before she kissed him.

Toby sat back, brushing his thumb over her lip gently. "Hey, you." He frowned. "You look tired."

She shrugged, fed up with people telling her. She leaned forward and grabbed a handful of his popcorn. She popped a piece in her mouth, revelling in the sweet warmth of it.

"No Mac?" he asked, sensing not to press her further.

Veronica shook her head. "Nah. She's still not speaking to him." Her friends not talking bothered her more than she let on. Her closer friendship with Mac was still quite new and the fact she wouldn't stay in the same room as her best friend made things awkward. She missed the easy going days of summer, sitting around watching movies or hanging out at the beach.

"That sucks."

"It does," Veronica said, beginning to flick through a program. She felt a burst of pride when she saw Wallace's name next to the point guard position.

A shadow fell across the page and she looked up to see a familiar face standing in front of her.

"Betty?" he said in surprise.

She smiled. "Hey, Richie. Actually, I go by Veronica now."

Both Toby and Richie shot her looks of equal confusion. Toby held out his hand. "I'm Toby, Veronica's boyfriend."

Richie shook it with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."

"So you're at Hearst!" Veronica continued enthusiastically, ignoring the looks.

"Yeah, on a team with the infamous Fennel."

"I can root for you both now," Veronica said.

"You… never did go to Pan, did you?"

Veronica laughed. "No, I didn't." They both glanced over to see the coach waving at Richie to call him over. "Good luck with the game!" Veronica said brightly.

"Thanks! See you around, Bet, uh, I mean… Veronica." He jogged away, glancing over his shoulder a couple of times, his expression still one of bewilderment.

OOO

"What are we looking for?" Toby whispered, glancing over his shoulder cautiously. The falling light cast inky shadows across his face, making his blue eyes appear to glow. The campus was desolate, but she could hear music thumping in the distance and the sound of voices. It sounded near-by, but sound travelled at night and it was possible the party was on the other side of campus.

Veronica let out a little laugh as she pulled her hoodie tighter, warding from the chilly air. "You don't need to whisper and if you keep looking that shifty, people will think we're about to rob them or something."

"I'm not used to bad-ass PI skulkery."

"I bet that word didn't show up on your SATs," Veronica teased.

"What kind of shit school did you go to? It's totally a word."

Veronica was about to answer when she suddenly crouched down on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Toby asked in confusion, when she suddenly went scrabbling into a bush. "Veronica, I don't think you should be doing that."

"Shh," she said, muffled by the branches in her face.

"God, you're stubborn," Toby protested, dropping down on his knees besides her, trying to look past the leaves to what she'd spotted.

Veronica suddenly tumbled back out, holding up some blue, plastic-coated rope triumphantly, before she scanned it intently. "Look." She showed him the frayed edge. "It looks like it's been cut."

Toby suddenly nudged her. "I can hear voices. We better go."

Veronica shoved the rope into a bag, and took his offered hand to get to her feet.

OOO

The Phi Sigma Sigma house was just as she remembered. Big, obnoxious and loud.

Veronica had waited outside, dressed in her slutty best until she had spotted someone that wouldn't know her from the time she got them into trouble. 

"Hi, I'm Elizabeth," she said to him. "But you can call me Beth." She flicked her hair over her shoulder and gave him a flirty smile. She patted the seat invitingly next to her and he sat down.

He smiled broadly in return. "I'm Michael," he introduced. "Looking for someone?"

"No, no," she said, touching his arm briefly. "I've already found him." She wanted to cringe, her flirting was so blatant and obvious, but then she glanced at him, and realised she had his full attention. Men! "So you're a frat man, huh?"

"Phi Sigma Sigma's," he said, his chest puffing. "The best frat on campus. They throw the best parties." Veronica internally rolled her eyes. She bet they did.

Her eyes widened. "Wow. So, how do you get to be in the frat in the first place?" She twirled her hair around her finger.

"Initiations. A task a day, usually. Usually get harder and harder depending how much they want them to join," Michael explained. He scratched as his short, mousy hair.

"Jamie said they can get really scary," she said, with her best innocent look.

"Jamie?" he asked.

"Jamie West," Veronica offered. "He's a pledge."

The frat brother shook his head. "I know who you mean, but he's not a pledge. I organise who gets accepted, so I should know. We look for something special in our pledges, you know? And he just didn't have it."

Veronica leaned forward, putting her hand on his arm briefly. "I love people who are organised." He grinned and she fought the urge to vomit. He was just as repulsive as the rest of the brothers, only talking to her because of the thought he might get laid. She sat back. "So, have there been any initiations this week?"

"There was one last night…" He stopped and looked around carefully, before he said, "Don't tell anyone this, but last nights was abseiling. First to the top of the dorm wins."

_Abseiling. And to do that, you need rope. Rope which I found - cut. Doesn't take a genius here to smell foul play._

"Ohmygod, was that guy rushing? The one that died?" He looked serious and she let out a little laugh, touching his knee. "I won't tell anyone."

He chuckled nervously. "I don't know. I could get into big trouble."

"Come on, who am I going to tell?"

He glanced around a second time, before he said, "He was a pledge, yeah. He was almost at the top and the cable just… snapped." He paused before he asked, "Can I get your number? We should go to the Phi party next week together."

Veronica fought the urge to roll her eyes, as she scribbled down a fake number. She slipped it into his hand. "Call me!" she chirped, over her shoulder, as she skitted off.

_Why would John say that Jamie was a pledge when he wasn't accepted? Unless he'd been lied to…_

OOO

Veronica always thought it was interesting the way dusk seemed to fall on campus. It always seemed to be bright and sunny one second, then it was as if had a dimmer switch and turned it, the darkness spreading quickly and rapidly.

It seemed to be like a little self-sufficient town, with shops and entertainment all within reach. With a pang, Veronica wished she could stay on campus – taking the next stage of growing up. But at the same time, she knew what had been decided was decided for a reason and she couldn't change her mind now.

Her head rested on Wallace's cool window, the air she was breathing out making faint condensation which she fought the urge to doodle in. Wallace lay gently snoring next to her, fully clothed on his bed. They'd set the computer up and were listening to the bug she'd planted in the house, but he was a little more tired from that day's basketball training than he realised.

Wallace's weird roommate was thankfully out. His odd ways, twitchy behaviour and the way he'd just sit and stare at Veronica when she was over made her uncomfortable.

Jamie and John seemed to be in the process of a massive booze-up in the kitchen/diner. Going from slurring Scott's many good qualities, to deciding what songs he'd want at his funeral and a couple of times they fell into long stretches of silence.

"Why did you tell that chick earlier Scott wasn't pledging? Don't gimmie that shit about you not remembering," John's voice slurred from the speakers. Veronica's attention snapped back to them as she sat up.

"Don't see it's any business of hers," Jamie answered, stressing out in words that sounded like they were a struggle to get out through the alcohol coursing through veins.

There was a beat of silence before John said, "Whadabout the police?"

A grunt, which Veronica took to be Jamie.

"Don't you think they should be told? I mean, s'abit weird, innit? When he was in…in…shating." Veronica rolled her eyes. _This_, amongst other reasons, was why she didn't really drink. He sounded like a complete idiot. "The abseil… thing… it musta gone wrong."

There was more silence and Veronica felt a flicker of annoyance until she heard crying begin. Great heaving sobs, that sounded pretty close to the bug.

"Jay, what happened?" John asked. His voice was normal, so it was Jamie that was crying.

"Was an accident," Jamie sobbed. Veronica scrambled to the edge of the bed, listening intently.

"What was?" John's voice sounded clearer now, more sober.

"I was never gonna be a Phi, they just wanted him. I didn't know he'd die." The sobs were coming harsher, he sounded like he was struggling to breathe.

"What did you do?" John's voice sounded low and dangerous.

"I thought if I cut the rope a bit, he'd fall – look an idiot."

"You cut the rope?" John screamed. There was a scrambling sound and what seemed like a chair toppling over.

Veronica jumped to her feet. "Wallace!" she shouted. He jumped awake with a snort. He blinked at her in confusion. She motioned towards the computer, and the commotion coming out of the speakers.

"Over a frat?" she heard John scream, along with loud thumping noises.

"Call the police!" Wallace exclaimed. Veronica span, heading towards the door until Wallace's hand clamped down on her arm.

"No way," he commanded, his normally sweet, open face changing into a determined expression. The resolved look read that there was no way she could get past him. "Call the police."

Fear flitted across Veronica's face at the thought of what might be happening, and she attempted to twist out of his grip.

"It sounds like he's killing him!" Veronica exclaimed. Wallace moved in front of the door, the expression still remaining firm on his face as he punched 911 into his cell. While Wallace only had a few inches on her, his muscles flexed as he kept one arm tightly across the door, to prevent anything she might try.

"Police. Now," he said frantically into the phone.

OOO

Mac looked over at Sarah, who was sprawled across her bed, with a tissue pressed to her eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Mac asked. Sarah shook her head. The clip holding her auburn hair slid out of place, and the locks tumbled across her forehead. She sighed and shoved it back with her hand.

Mac looked down. Her parents had hovered by her bed during the early summer, offering her food, drink, to talk, to listen. She'd pushed them away, but it wasn't because they were annoying her. It was just that she didn't know what she wanted. 

There was a knock at the door and Mac hurried over to answer it, glad of the distraction. She gave Veronica a small smile in greeting and stepped back into the room.

"Hey," Veronica said. "I've got news."

Sarah looked up at Veronica, her watery and puffy eyes almost the same colour as her hair.

"They found out who killed Scott."

"Who was it?" Sarah demanded.

"It was Jamie," Veronica said gently.

"Jamie?" Sarah gasped. "Why the hell would he do that?"

Veronica sat down once again on Mac's bed, facing her. "Did you know that Scott was pledging for the Phi Sigma Sigma's?" Sarah shook her head. "I looked into it, and three generations of Scott's family have been Sigma's, which meant that Scott was practically a shoo-in. He just had to complete the obligatory initiation. Jamie desperately wanted to be one too, but they wouldn't even let him pledge."

"So he killed Scott?" Sarah asked, through gritted teeth.

"They don't think he meant to. He possibly wanted to make Scott look bad, so he wouldn't get into the frat. Last night he went to where they would be abseiling up the building, and cut half-way through his ropes. He probably meant for it snap pretty quickly with no harm done, but somehow it didn't snap until Scott was almost at the top."

Sarah shuddered, a fresh wave of tears streaking down her face.

"I put a bug in their room, and was listening. But… there's more…" Veronica sighed, feeling the events of the night churning in her stomach.

"Jamie and John got drunk and Jamie kinda confessed, as I was listening. John went psycho, and attacked him."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Is he okay?"

Veronica shook her head. "We called the police, but by the time they got there… Jamie was dead."

Sarah let out a choked sob. "Oh my god," she exclaimed, leaning forward into her hands.

OOO

"Wow, that's intense," Toby remarked, taking a gulp of coke as he leaned forward on the table. 

"It was horrible," Veronica said evenly.

"To be listening to that…" Mac said, before she trailed off, catching the looks on Veronica's and Wallace's faces.

Awkward silence fell over the group as they sat in a booth at Tequila Mockingbird.

"Hello, all," Josh greeted, walking over to them. He put a tray down in the centre of the table, with two jugs on it and clapped Toby on the back. "As my resident under-twenty-one's, you have to try my new non-alcoholic punch," he said loudly and then winked.

Toby grinned and began to pour it into the glasses. "Thank you."

"No problem, mate," he replied. "Enjoy!"

Veronica took the offered glass and sipped it, feeling what tasted like vodka as it burned the back of her throat. Her nose wrinkled in distaste. She tuned out as the conversation continued, carried solely by Toby and Wallace. The room seemed to shift on its axis and she shook her head, to correct her vision. The feeling of nausea she'd been battling all day intensified and she sat back heavily on the booth.

"Are you okay?" Toby asked her, touching her arm. "You've gone really pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "Just…"

"I said you'd overdo it," Wallace put in. "Working all day, and straight back to a full schedule."

"Oh, I just need an early night," Veronica said dismissively.

"Come on," Toby said as he stood up. "I'll take you home."

Veronica glanced between Wallace, and Mac who was looking down at the table. "But…"

"I've got to go to the library anyway," Mac shrugged.

"And I've got some friends over there," Wallace said, pointing to a loud group around a table in the corner. "I can go and join then. Go home, Vee, get some rest."

Veronica stood up gratefully and let Toby guide her out into the cool evening air. She took a few gulps, instantly feeling slightly better.

They began to walk towards Toby's car, when Veronica heard a cracking sound. She looked over her shoulder with a frown, her eyes narrowing in the darkness.

"You okay?" Toby asked.

"Yeah," Veronica said, "I just… Oh, nothing," she finished uneasily. He smiled at her as they reached the car.

OOO

She'd just snuggled down on the sofa, with a bowl of chocolate cereal when the phone began to ring. Her dad was once again working late hours, trying to get the office up to speed, so he couldn't field any calls off for her. She knew exactly who it was.

She got to her feet and padded over to the phone, picking it up with one hand as she balanced the bowl on the side.

"Hello?" she said, going for breezy and busy.

"Hi, Veronica. It's me, Logan." It was so weird to hear him sounding nervous. For a second she longed to hear the cocky, confident boy that made her stomach twist just to hear him murmur her name,

"How's it going?" she asked. Her voice sounded clinical and neutral, after years of practise.

"Not bad," he replied.

"Not feeling withdrawal symptoms anymore?" she asked, and her voice almost slipped to caring, before she checked herself. They'd been terrible; she could hear it in his voice when he spoke to her in the beginning, barely controlling his voice shaking.

"Not now, no."

"How was your session today?"

"Alright. Group and then one-on-on therapy. How are you feeling?"

She shrugged then realised he couldn't see her. If she said 'fine' one more time she would be forced to knock herself out with any available object lying around. "Fan-fucking-tastic," she said darkly.

"Tell me about it?" he asked softly.

OOO

"Morning, Dad," Veronica greeted perkily, as she walked over to the counter and sat down. Keith pushed a bowl of cereal towards her, and she poured the milk in.

"Have a good night?" he asked.

She grimaced. "No comment. How was your day?"

"Alright." He turned and grabbed the newspaper from the table and placed it in front of her. "Look," he said gravely. "Kendall Casablancas…"

"She hasn't married _again_, has she?" Veronica asked, flicking without glancing at the paper. "That woman has made an art of marrying well. Who this time? Bill Gates?"

She grinned up at her father but Keith did not smile in return. His expression remained grave and Veronica's smile faltered.

"Kendall was found dead late last night," Keith continued, "Shot in the head."

Veronica's eyes widened as she stared at her father in shock.

OOO

TBC...


	5. Tequila Mockingbird

Her footsteps were hurried as she walked around the parking lot, her eyes fixed on the building in front of her. She didn't want to take the shorter route past where she was attacked and possibly see her own blood stains still lingering on the floor from an incompetent clean-up. She shuddered, the space catching her eye anyway. It looked less sinister in the daylight, seemingly innocent with well-tended grass banks and a few trees lining the outskirts. There was no parked van. There was no Trojan horse full of dark figures ready to jump out as she approached.

Another hazy night of violence led to imagined reconstructions in her dreams that made her skin crawl. Her temples throbbed and she reached up to push either side of her head with her palms, the pressure temporarily making the pain stop.

She reached the doorway and peeked in. The lights were on and she could see a woman sitting on the hall table, a phone perched between her ear and shoulder. Veronica knocked and the woman looked up. She held up a hand briefly to acknowledge her, before seeming to mutter a quick goodbye and put the phone down a second later. She walked over to the door and began turning the keys on the other side. The door swung open.

"Veronica, right?" she greeted. Her long dark hair and bright blue eyes reminded her of a character from a TV show she used to watch, which in turn made her think of evenings huddled on the sofa with Lilly, arguing whether she belonged with Jess or Dean. Her chest ached for her long-gone best friend.

"That's me," Veronica said with a quick smile. "And you're the Ellie I spoke to?" The three sets of beads she had on tapped together in rhythm with her nod. "Thanks for agreeing to speak to me."

"What is it you wanted to see me about?" Ellie asked. "You didn't really explain on the phone."

"I just wanted to ask some questions," Veronica said, "about the night of the attack."  
Veronica shivered, pulling her denim jacket tighter as the cool morning air breezed around her. A knot formed under her chin as feelings of nausea swept through her. She was surprised her voice sounded as calm as it did when said, "I just want to have all the information, and find out who did it."

Ellie's expression turned sympathetic. "Do you want to come in?"

Veronica nodded, grateful to follow her into the warm room. She was led into a spacious living area, decorated in shades of spice, with a large cream couch. It was no wonder they had parties, Veronica decided, the place was huge. Ellie motioned to the couch and Veronica sat down.

"So, fire away. I can only tell you what we've told the police." Veronica felt a faint flicker of surprise at her words, although she realised she shouldn't. She knew her father would put pressure on Lamb to run the case properly, but to know they were actually questioning people was comforting. However, that comfort only went so far. Her dad wasn't exacting sharing any of his knowledge, and Veronica's quest to sate the burning need to know why was being unfulfilled.

"Do you know who was working the bar that night?" Veronica asked. "I know it wasn't really a 'bar' per se, but I'm sure I remember there being someone pouring drinks."

"Yeah, that's right. We usually have someone on the bar to stop people who are totally wasted from continuing to drink. That's usually when fights break out and it gets nasty." Veronica nodded, encouraging her to continue. "But as for who was manning it - to be honest - we were asked that, and no one knew him. He wasn't anyone that lived in this house."

"Why was he allowed to do it then?" Veronica asked, her brow wrinkling.

"Everyone hates that job. If a party-goer's willing to do it…" Ellie shrugged.

"And no one could give a description?" Veronica prodded.

"That's the thing. He was… non-descript. Average height – I think he had brown hair. I vaguely recall jeans and a T-shirt, but not a colour or style. That's all I remember, sorry," Ellie said. "The police did say that your friend swore he never left the drink. I think one of the deputies mentioned he was sure the drink was drugged before it was given to you."

"Meaning it was the bartender," Veronica said, almost to herself. Annoyance flickered through her, and she wondered why her father let someone who threw the party know more about the case than his own daughter – the victim of the crime. While she understood his actions, she felt like she was being smothered in cotton wool.

"That's what they said."

"Thanks for your help," Veronica said, as she stood.

"Anytime," Ellie replied, showing her to the door.

Veronica smiled before she headed back to her LeBaron. She started the car and drove back towards campus. She knew damn well her dad would kill her if he found out she was investigating the case, but how could she not? It wasn't him that had to cope with the crippling headaches, and the nightmares that had increased doubly since that night.

Veronica felt a prickle down her spine and glanced up into the mirror. She noticed a black car a few cars back that she recognised as a Chevrolet Impala Sedan. She turned off earlier than she was meant to and frowned when it did too. She sped up and took a side road suddenly, and watched as the car continued past. Continuing down the side road, she joined the highway again to continue towards Hearst.

_Well, this isn't good._

She pulled up outside Tequila Mockingbird and headed in, smoothing down her black skirt and crisp white shirt – thankful again to say goodbye to the nasty waistcoat Java the Hut had required. The scent of tomato soup wafted toward her as the door slid shut and an instantly a vivid memory of her mother sprang to mind -- she closed her eyes, trying to shake off the image of Lianne placing a tray of soup on her bed when she was sick. Her throat tightened, as she recalled her mother's soft, cool hands touching her forehead to assess her temperature.

She caught sight of Charlie, her co-worker carrying a stack of plates towards the kitchen. He grinned, waving at her with his spare hand. She forced a smile and nodded back.

Veronica headed behind the bar and nudged Josh, who was intently glaring at the espresso machine. He jumped, as she put her bag under the counter.

"Wow, crept up on me there."

"Yeah, what if I was like a robber or something? I could have knocked you out and taken all the money before you even realised the door had opened."

"Well, Ma Barker, can you fix the espresso machine? It's not so much espressing, as drizzling," Josh grimaced.

Veronica began to jiggle the pipes as Josh cleaned down the work surface. She slammed her fist on the top and the machine began to steam correctly again. Josh turned to her, his eyebrow raised and an impressed expression on his face.

"Nice work, Wonder Woman! Going to use those powers for good?"

"I'll think about it," Veronica replied. "But seems the money is in evil."

Josh nodded solemnly. "That's true." The door opened again and Andrew stepped through, looking flushed and harassed. Josh nodded towards him in warning, and they both turned and started doing things, to make sure they looked busy.

Andrew reached the counter and said quietly, "Veronica? Can I have a word with you in the staffroom please?" He stalked off, the backdoor smacking closed behind him.

Veronica and Josh exchanged half-amused and in Veronica's case, half-worried looks, as Veronica followed him. It felt like she'd been summoned by the principal to be told off, reminding her of the many times she'd walked like this towards Clemmons' office, wondering what her fate would be.

The hallway was dark and dingy, having escaped the regular decorating the publicly-visible front got. Dirt lined either side of the hallway in little heaps left by an inept sweeper. The air felt stifling and damp and Veronica shivered as she walked through the open doorway, next to the closed door of the kitchen, to the staffroom in which Andrew awaited them. The room was slightly better than the hallway, having actually been painted a dull shade of cream within the last thirty years, and was clean at least. She sat down softly on one of leather sofas.

"In trouble already?" she joked.

Andrew didn't smile, looking down at a stack of letters he held. He looked up with a grave expression.

"You've been here a few weeks now, and you've been an excellent employee. You know what you're doing, you're great with the customers and you are always punctual. However, I'm afraid the cash register keeps falling short, and it has been since we took you on."

Veronica's eyes widened.

_He is _so_ not accusing me, is he?_

"I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go."

Veronica's mouth dropped open, before she said angrily, "What proof do you have, exactly?"

"Veronica, I'm sorry. I don't have any other choice."

Her nails dug into her palm as she continued to gape at him in baffled astonishment. Andrew stood up, his expression sympathetic. He leafed through the letters and pulled out a white envelope. "Here's last week's pay, tips included."

Veronica took the envelope slowly, slivers of numbed shock slowly slipping away.

"FYI, I haven't been stealing money, but I have been stealing coffee - a bean at a time. I was planning on using it to fuel a spaceship to Pluto, but then I remembered it was demoted, and was no longer a planet, so I had to stop and mourn for my childhood."

Veronica rolled her eyes as she shoved the envelope in her pocket, turned quickly and marched out the door.

Josh looked up when he saw her come back in and grinned, until he saw her face. "What's up?" he asked, when she got nearer.

"Oh, _nothing_. Except apparently – I'm a thief… and I don't even get to keep the proceeds." Anger and indignation coursed through her veins as she took a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

"A thief?" he frowned. "What the hell?"

"Someone's been sneaking cash from the register, and I'm getting blamed."

Horrified concern flashed across Josh's features as he spat, "What a tosser!"

Veronica shook her head. "I don't know what that means, but I hope it's _really_ awful."

"Vee, I'm sorry. If there is anything I can do…"

"Thanks, Josh," Veronica replied, fishing her bag back out. "I'll see you later."

The late morning sun beat down, warming, her skin. It would have been relaxing any other day. There was something about the temperature that made her want to kick off her shoes and lounge on the grass, reading a novel. But the knot in her stomach ached and her jaw clenched as she walked further away from Tequila Mockingbird.

She rummaged through her bag and found her phone. Too annoyed to bother with scrolling through her contacts, Veronica punched in Wallace's number.

He picked up after a couple of rings, his voice sounding sleepy. "'Lo?" he mumbled.

"You sound like you spent the night partying with Tara Reid," she teased.

"She might have made an appearance," he replied, and she heard the bed squeak as he obviously turned over.

"Can you meet me at Mac's?"

"Wha?" he mumbled groggily. "To be glared at?"

"It won't be like that. _Please_, Wallace."

"I don't know…"

"I'll buy you coffee, and cake… and sugary goodness…"

"Fine," he grumbled and she smiled winningly.

"See you there as soon as you can." She hung up before he could reply.

"What's going on?" Mac demanded, as Veronica barged into her room. She gasped and shot out of her chair in annoyance as she spotted Wallace following behind her, slightly sheepishly.

"Okay, can you both sit down please?" Veronica asked. Wallace glanced between the two beds, before he picked Sarah's messy – but empty – one as the safest. He glanced back at Veronica, his forehead wrinkled in confusion as to the reason why she'd brought him there. He looked back at Mac who was pursing her lips as she leaned against the wall, a glimmer of defiance in her eyes.

He saw Veronica was fighting the urge to roll her eyes before she began, "This morning I went to see one of the girls that threw the party. She told me that an unknown guy played barman all night and that _no one_ knew him. The police are pretty certain he spiked the drink before it was given to me."

Wallace felt like a large weight had been lifted from him as he listened to his best friend speak. The words swam around his head – the confirmation that he hadn't been responsible letting him breathe easier.

Veronica continued, looking at Mac. "It was dark, I don't really remember anything about him at all. I don't think I could pick him out of a line up. Could you, Mac?"

Mac shook her head and Wallace frowned, knowing Veronica was frustrated. He was surprised it had taken her so long to start investigating, but it seemed Keith had been trying to stop her.

"Right," Veronica continued, "the drink was already spiked; Wallace didn't take his eye off it. So it's not his fault. None of us are to blame. I get you want someone to be in the wrong, Mac. God, I do too."

Wallace opened his mouth to speak and said, "I…" just as Mac did. He stopped and they both laughed awkwardly.

"You go," Wallace said.

"I'm sorry," Mac replied softy and Wallace breathed a sigh of relief.

The sky, which had started off clear and sunny, had clouded over by the time Veronica had finished class. Drizzle sprinkled down as she met Toby, and finally it started to pour as they drove across town to Java the Hut. He parked in the lot and turned to look at Veronica.

"Don't suppose you have an umbrella tucked under that shirt, do you?" Toby asked with a grin.

Veronica made a show of running her hands over her form-fitting clothes, before looking shocked. "Damn, I thought I put one there this morning." She slid her jacket on her. "You know, I don't think I even _own_ an umbrella."

"Ready to make a run for it?" he asked, grimacing at the weather.

Veronica nodded as they got out, locked the car and began to hurry towards the building. Veronica's foot landed in a puddle, and she felt the water ooze into her shoe.

She waved to Julie, the manager, as she walked through. Julie smiled in return and motioned Veronica to the back where her friends were sitting around a large table.

"Okay, who's the asshole that picked the place I used to work at to hang out in?" Veronica asked, as they walked over. She brushed her hair down with her fingers, hoping she didn't look too awful.

Matt raised the arm that wasn't slung over Mac's shoulders sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't know," he said. "Just thought it was different."

A slightly bitter smile crossed her lips. "Ah, it's okay. It's not like I was _fired_ from here."

"I told Andrew he was a dickhead," Josh put in, thumping the table to emphasise his words. "Then he put me on dish washing duty and put Charlie out front, the bastard."

"You didn't have to do that," Veronica replied gratefully as she slid in a chair next to Wallace, as Toby fetched another to go next to her.

"Veronica, you haven't met my friend Nick yet," Toby said, pointing towards the black haired boy sitting next to Josh.

"Actually, I have," Veronica said, as Nick took her hand briefly with a smile. "Aren't you a TA in my psychology class?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Nick replied. "And you're the girl that gets all the A's."

Veronica blushed as Wallace laughed. "Sounds like Veronica. Actually, sorry to run out so soon after you get here, but I've gotta get going." He stood up.

"Ooh, you're looking mighty fine, Fennel," Veronica said. "Got a hot date?"

Wallace tugged on his collar and grinned. "That I have!"

"With Zara again?"

"Nope. Melissa. And she's _fine_."

"Have fun, Casanova," Veronica replied as Wallace waved to them and walked away, an extra bounce in his step. Veronica rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"So, Matt, before they arrived, you were just going to tell us what job you did," Josh prompted, twisting his Rolex around his wrist as he spoke.

"Oh, I work at a garage, fixing cars. And I occasionally work with my dad, when I need the money," he replied.

"What does your dad do?" Veronica asked.

"Sells cars. They're kinda my passion anyway," Matt said.

"Anyone want another drink?" Toby asked, fishing out his wallet.

Veronica rubbed her arms as she walked towards Mars Investigations, making sure to walk around the scattered puddles on the ground. It had finally stopped raining, but the air was still chilly and smelled damp. Her stomach felt full from the lunch she'd just eaten. She shivered and tugged the zipper of her maroon hoodie up in annoyance, her eyes still trained on the ground when she smacked into someone. Both their hands shot out to stop the other from falling, as Veronica's eyes slowly rose to meet brown ones.

His eyes were exactly how she remembered them. They locked with hers, making her feel like she was the only person in the world he saw. He'd always looked at her like that, with a startling intensity. Her stomach clenched as they continued to stare at each other in silence. For so long, she had thought she would never see him again and now that he was there, standing in front of her, it felt foreign and strange. She didn't know whether to punch him hard, or hug him. She was leaning toward punching him.

He was wearing green button-up shirt and jeans, completely different to the scruffy look he'd adopted over the summer, like he couldn't be bothered anymore.

"Hello, Veronica," Logan finally said. She realised her fingers were still wrapped around his biceps, and jumped backwards, a flush igniting her cheeks. "You look good," he continued, his fingers wrapping around his sleeves as he twisted them. His dark hair was spiked up neatly, and he looked fresh.

"Thanks," Veronica said in a clipped tone, feeling anything but good. She longed to go home and curl up in bed, but she was so behind with the little tasks like filing, it would take more than a day to catch up. "So you finished rehab?"

Logan nodded, looking awkward and nervous. "Yeah, got out last night. Still gonna be having weekly therapy." He glanced down at his sleeves, realised what he was doing and shoved his hands into his pocket.

"Good," Veronica replied.

"I'm just on my way to look at an apartment," Logan said.

Veronica glanced behind her and thought she saw a darkly dressed figure step into an alleyway further down the road.

Logan's eyes narrowed as he took in her concerned expression. "Who's that skulking around?"

"You saw him too?" Veronica asked, her forehead wrinkling. "I never know if I'm just being paranoid…"

"Is he following you?"

"Well… I think so…" Veronica said, before trailing off as Logan began to walk towards the alleyway.

"Wait here," Logan said and Veronica huffed, hurrying after him.

They reached the alley and peered around the corner. There was nothing but broken, cardboard boxes and black bags outside heavy doors with paint chipping off the hard metal edges. Wind wound through the narrow corridor, lifting paper and scattering it across the asphalt.

"He must have gone back out the other end," Veronica said. "There's no way to catch him now."

"Have you told anyone about this?" Logan asked.

Veronica shook her head and shrugged. "I wasn't really sure."

"You were attacked, and now you think someone is following you, but didn't mention it to anyone, because _you weren't sure_?" Logan snapped.

Veronica immediately bristled. "Excuse me? Since when was this any of your business?" She brushed past him, her arms wrapped around her middle. She turned and shot him an angry glare as she stalked off towards Mars Investigations, leaving him staring after her.

Veronica stomped across the office and dropped the unsorted pile of files onto her desk. She huffed as one slid off onto the floor. She bent down and snatched it back up before she threw it back on the pile.

Emotions swirled around her head as she flicked through the pale yellow files. Anger strummed through her veins, burning hot like vodka after one too many. Every time she opened the file to check the photos were where they belonged, the faces morphed into _his_. She tutted and slammed the file shut, after a woman's green eyes suddenly turned into warm brown ones.

She reached forward and picked up the phone, quickly typing in a number. After only a few rings, it was picked up.

"Keith Mars speaking."

"Dad," Veronica breathed out. His voice always calmed her. The same voice that read her books as a child, soothed her when she fell over and grazed her knee, and told her things were going to be okay when she was hurting.

"Are you alright, honey?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm good thanks. I was thinking of coming home early today, and maybe we could hang out?"

"Sounds like a plan," he said and she smiled in relief. "Why don't you rent some movies, and I'll pick up some Chinese and meet you home in an hour?"

"I'll see you there," she replied. She hung up before dialling another number.

"Hello?"

"Josh, it's Veronica. You said if I ever needed anything…"

Logan stood back and surveyed the room with a critical eye. He dropped down on the sofa and switched the widescreen TV off. All he could see reflected back was the large windows behind him. He sighed, stood up again and shifted the sofa over.

His limbs felt like they were going to drop off any moment, he was so exhausted from moving his stuff around. The movers had put everything where he'd requested, but as soon as they had gone he'd decided it looked all wrong and had set about moving it all. He'd known it was the place he wanted as soon as he saw it. Spacious, airy rooms – but not too big. It was just a few minutes from the beach, near enough the town to walk, and a few blocks over from Veronica's apartment. He'd spent years mocking people outside the 09er district, but when it came to choosing where to live, he couldn't face large, shiny mansions with their perfect facades. The realtor was only too pleased when he handed her the deposit and signed the agreement.

He was sick of living in faceless, impersonalised places like the Neptune Grand with its clean, stylish and functional look. And then the room he shared in rehab, with Ebenezer, a sixty year old jackwad. A born-again Christian, who had bad dandruff and constantly asked him if he had any spare cigarettes, no matter how many times Logan had told him he didn't smoke.

He'd spent the rest of the day furniture shopping. He'd found a store that was closing down, and were only too happy to let him have the goods straight away. Logan was just happy he wasn't spending the night on the floorboards.

Veronica's eyes snapped open and she'd never been so relieved to be in her bedroom in her entire life. Her heart thumped in her chest as she sat up, taking slow, deep breaths. The images in her mind still burned bright like they had been physically branded behind her eyelids. She rubbed her wrist, trying to make the lingering feeling of them being gripped disappear, but she could still feel fingers pressing into her flesh.

She untangled herself from her blanket, which was damp with perspiration and climbed out, flicking her bedside lamp on. She pulled a sweater on over her tank top, and glanced down at her pants. The black pyjama bottoms could pass for normal sweatpants in the dark.

She grabbed her camera on reflex as she padded out of her room. Backup was curled up on the sofa but he perked up the second she walked in, gazing at her with large, trusting eyes. She yanked some sneakers on and picked up his lead.

"Wanna go for a walk?" she whispered. The magical word spoken, he jumped down off the sofa and sat at her feet, allowing her to clip the leash on.

The night air was refreshing, but not too cool as she walked out of the complex and down the steps leading to the beach. The moon was high above the ocean, and it reflected on the houses along the side of the beach, giving them an almost ethereal glow. The pure white light shone in a shimmering triangle in the ocean, stretching from the horizon almost to the sand. Veronica was glad she brought her camera, as she lifted it up, focused and clicked.

There was something calming about walking along the beach, with the wind tousling her hair and her dog trotting besides her. Suddenly Backup tugged, jolting forward.

"Hey," she protested as he dragged her along the beach, almost at a run. "Chill."

They turned the corner and there she saw him, sitting on a large flat rock. From the way he was sitting, she could only see his profile in shadows. He looked deep in thought and didn't notice as she continued to walk toward him. She let go off the lead as Backup pulled again and let him bounder off. Logan jumped as the dog came into view, panting excitedly. He reached out and patted him, before turning to see Veronica standing awkwardly nearby.

"What are you doing here?" Logan asked in surprise. "It's the middle of the night."

"Could ask you the same thing," Veronica pointed out.

Logan shrugged his shoulders at her words and glanced out to sea for a long moment before asking, "Wanna sit down?" He shifted over, making room for her. Veronica hesitated a second before scrambling up the cold rock, making sure to keep a good distance between them. The wind picked up and she wrapped her arms around her knees as they sat in silence.

"You look cold," Logan said.

"Great observation, Einstein. Don't tell me you're going to get all gentleman-ly on me now, and offer your coat?"

"Would you take it if I did?" Logan asked.

"No," Veronica said stubbornly, rubbing her arms. The waves gently lapped at the shore, taking Veronica back to the last time she had been here with Logan. They'd spent the day sunbathing, wrapped up in each others arms between intense makeout sessions. Now she could feel the wall between them, thick and painful. Built up with the hurt of being left behind, the only way she could try and get over him.

"Couldn't you sleep?" he asked softly. "You look tired."

"Wow, you know how to make a girl feel good about herself," Veronica snapped. "And yeah, I could sleep. It just wasn't a fun experience."

"Nightmares again?"

"What is this, twenty questions? I came here for some peace and quiet."

She almost felt guilty as he swallowed hard and reached up and rubbed the side of his head, a gesture she'd always found endearing, but she swallowed hard and looked away.

"Did you hear about Kendall?" Veronica asked softly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Logan said. "I saw it on the news."

"She was working with the Fitzpatricks. She was all BFF with Liam," Veronica informed him, thinking out loud as she mentally scanned a list of suspects.

Logan looked at her in surprise. "You never told me that."

"Well, it was kind of ironic you were fucking the playmate of the guy who thought it would be funny to frame you for murder."

Logan turned and glared at her.

"I didn't know until after you two split up," Veronica clarified.

"I take it they have no leads on who did it?" Logan asked.

Veronica shrugged. "This is Lamb we're talking about. Then again, I can't imagine who would want to kill such a sweet and charming woman."

Logan snorted. "She wasn't that…" He trailed off, catching the expression on Veronica's face. "Yeah, a bitch."

Mac spotted Veronica and Sarah sitting at a picnic table as she walked towards them. Sarah's head was bowed as she worked on some kind of essay, her hand moving quickly across the page. Mac smiled as she realised it was the project due in after lunch that Sarah had been putting off for weeks. Her eyes flicked over to Veronica, who was staring off into space. She frowned as she noticed the dark circles under her eyes, as she reached the table. Veronica seemed thinner every passing day, and Mac swore she could count every rib through her t-shirt.

"Late night?" Mac asked, as she slid the cardboard tray she was holding with three drinks on it towards Veronica. "This might help. Double mocha latte with extra cream."

Veronica smiled and lifted it from the tray. "Thanks."

"And a double vanilla espresso for you, Sarah."

Sarah looked up with a grateful smile as she took the drink. "Can't stop, I'll fail."

"You won't fail," Veronica said, sounding like someone who had said those words more than once that morning.

"So, any luck with the camera yet?" Mac asked.

Veronica shook her head. "I haven't met Josh yet. He's dropping the first camera off soon, after he swaps it for the second. Hopefully, the second camera won't be needed. But in case no one stole anything last night…"

"Do you think they will? I mean, if they do after you got fired…"

"They'd be very stupid," Veronica agreed. "Let's just hope they aren't that bright."

"Veronica, you are taking it easy, aren't you? I know you've heard this from everyone… and I know you're getting fed up with it. But since you've been out of hospital, you look tired all the time."

"I'm fine," Veronica said, pursing her lips. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"There may be lasting…" Mac paused, and Veronica cut in.

"Brain damage?" Veronica interjected, tapping the side of her head with her finger.

"No!" Mac protested. "I didn't mean that. Just… it must have been hard on you."

Mac saw Josh walking towards them out of the corner of her eye and breathed a sigh of relief. Veronica looked like she was going to leap over the table any moment and strangle her to death. She didn't _want_ to keep on at her, but something had to be said occasionally.

"Good morning, all," Josh greeted brightly. "Can't stop, got the early shift." He held out a small black video camera and waggled his eyebrows. "Mission accomplished and next stage in place."

"Why thank you," Veronica smiled, taking it from him. "Let's hope I can get back to work soon."

Josh nodded. "The coffee machine doesn't fix itself, you know." He waved as he walked off backwards. "Laters," he called, before he span around and walked off in the direction of Tequila Mockingbird.

"He's nice," Mac commented.

"Yeah, talk about eye candy," Sarah put in.

"He's gay," Veronica smirked.

Sarah sighed. "All the good ones are."

Mac glanced up and noticed Logan leaning against a tree in a form-fitting t-shirt and jeans. He was staring intently at Veronica, with a piercing gaze that had made Mac feel slightly uncomfortable on more than one occasion. It wasn't that it scared her, but it made her feel like he could see into the depths of her and know what she was thinking and feeling, using the power of his eyes alone.

"Veronica…" Mac started slowly.

"What?" Veronica asked, not looking too happy with her.

"Do you know where Logan is these days?" she tried subtly.

"Yes. Sitting behind me, probably staring a hole in my back. Generally being irritating," Veronica replied and Mac couldn't help but smile.

"Why?"

Veronica sighed. "He was waiting for me this morning, decided he's going to follow me everywhere to 'protect' me." Mac frowned at Veronica's finger quotes, and Veronica shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing." She picked up her cup and bag. "I've gotta get to class. See you both later."

Veronica unlocked the front door and stepped through, only to almost be knocked out as Backup jumped up, excitedly licking her face.

"Aw, did you miss me?" Veronica asked, batting him away as she closed the door behind her.

She hung her coat up and walked towards her bedroom with the two cameras clutched in her hand. She reached her laptop and plugged the first one in. She yawned as she waited for them to load. The box appeared and the footage began to play of the café. Daylight streamed through the windows as it filled with customers for the morning rush. Veronica reached to the keyboard and hit fast-forward and watched as it sped through the day. The lights dimmed into afternoon and finally night. The only person to use the cash register throughout the day was Josh. She saw Andrew lock up finally, and leave for home. She sighed as she unplugged the camera and replaced it with the second that Toby had passed on from Josh after he'd locked up that night.

She did the same, fast-forwarding through the day, until all the customers left. She clucked her tongue in annoyance and was just about to unplug in when Charlie, the sweet guy who from whom Josh took over dish duty, walked up to the cash register, looking over his shoulder. He opened the cash register, his body blocking what he was doing, but Veronica could see something in his hand for a second, before he closed the cash register and walked off, still looking nervously over his shoulder.

_Bingo._

"You can't do that, Logan," Veronica said sternly as she walked up to him, sitting on the beach.

Another night of nightmares had led her for another late night stroll with her dog. She'd expected to see Logan, and he didn't disappoint as she found him in the same spot as the night before.

"Do what?" he asked, looking up at her with a smirk. "Sit?"

"Following me. It's dis… annoying."

He continued to smirk as he turned to look back out over the calm ocean. "Yeah, I can."

"No, you can't," Veronica said. "But _you_ can help me."

After her morning classes, Veronica headed towards Tequila Mockingbird, hoping to get there before the morning rush. She reached the door and opened it, relieved to see Andrew behind the bar, and only a couple sitting in the corner, wrapped up in each other.

She walked in, her head held high and marched over to where Andrew was standing with his back to her. She coughed and he turned around, his eyes widening when he saw her.

"Veronica…"

"You need to see this," Veronica said, opening up her bag and sliding her laptop out. She placed it carefully on the counter and lifted the lid. She had already paused the video in the right place, and she hit play. Andrew watched as Charlie walked over to the cash register, looking shifty.

Andrew looked surprised, then concerned. "How did you get this?" he asked quietly. His face had drained of colour, and Veronica's eyes narrowed, taking in the odd expression.

"I'm a P.I. Do you think I'm just going to take being unfairly canned without a fight?" Veronica asked.

Andrew glanced at the customers, who were still studying each others tonsils. He nodded towards the backroom. "Come on," he said.

Veronica followed just as Charlie came out the kitchen. He smiled brightly. "Hello, Veronica."

"Charlie," Veronica said brightly, smiling widely. "How you doing?"

"Um, okay thanks." Charlie looked. "What's going on?" he asked, looking confused at her chipper attitude and Andrew's strained expression.

"The money that's been going missing…" Veronica started.

"No," Andrew interrupted, before he sighed. "Come on, both of you. In the staffroom."

Veronica frowned as they filed in. Charlie and Veronica sat down on the sofa, and Andrew sat opposite them.

"You _know_ it wasn't me, Andrew," Charlie said. His tone was defensive as he twitched nervously.

"What were you doing then? It's obvious you were at the cash register on the video footage." Veronica glanced at Andrew. His face had flushed and he was playing with the buttons on his shirt, rather than looking either of them in the eye.

"It's just… I know about your son, Andrew," Charlie said, before he looked worried. "I know you didn't wanna say anything to anyone, but my sister babysits for him, and Rose told her. I knew you were taking the money, and I felt bad... I just wanted to help. I get how expensive treatments are, and I know you don't have insurance…" Charlie trailed off, looking sympathetic.

"Your son?" Veronica prompted, looking at Andrew.

"My boy… he has cancer," Andrew admitted. "I needed the money for his treatment to continue," Andrew said. He rubbed his face with his hands as he leaned forward. "I didn't want to fire you, but the college noticed the discrepancies and they wanted me to do something. You were the last one here, it was an obvious choice."

Veronica's anger dimmed a fraction, slightly torn. There were a lot of needy, desperate people who didn't steal or lie, but she could see how distraught he looked.

"I'll give you your job back and give you a raise for treating you so badly," Andrew said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Veronica said finally. "I'm not sure I want my job back though. I won't mention it to anyone though, if you don't want people to know."

"I'll give you an excellent reference for any job you apply to," Andrew replied.

"We could set up a fund," Charlie suggested. "I'm sure people would be more than willing to help. Even just between the staff. With the part timers, we should make a fair bit."

Andrew nodded, looking grateful. "Thank you. And I really _am_ sorry."

The smell from a hotdog vendor down the road wafted toward Veronica, making her stomach rumble. She realised she hadn't eaten since the lasagne her dad had cooked the night before. There was a park across the street that was empty, and the swing made a loud creaking noise every time the wind pushed it forward. The afternoon sun was low in the sky casting eerie shadows on the ground. Long shadows stretched out from the trees and playground equipment, reminding her of the set of a horror movie. Veronica half expected Freddy Krueger to pop out from behind the slide, dragging metal claws down the glinting silver curve.

She checked her watch, lifting her arm up to chest height, so that anyone watching her could see. She stood up from the bench was sitting on, and began to walk slowly towards the vendor. Her eyes flickered longingly over the rows of sausages cooking, but instead she turned and walked into a small side street.

The heels of her boots clicked against the hard pavement as she continued, her nose wrinkling slightly as she passed an overflowing dumpster. She slowed, glancing over her shoulder to check -- no one was there -- before she ducked behind it. She peered out and a minute later a dark figure turned into the alleyway. She nervously slid her hand in her bag, and gripped the taser. It was definitely a male, from the way he walked, although he was on the shorter side. He had on a leather coat with the collar flipped up to obscured his face. In the dimming light, she could make out dark hair, but nothing else.

She glanced behind him and saw no one else had entered the alley yet. The grip on her taser tightened as the figure got closer and she shifted over, trying to push herself further into the corner, hoping he wouldn't spot her.

_Come on, Logan._

Just then, she heard running footsteps, and a smacking noise as someone hit the concrete. She stood up and looked out, to find Logan pinning him to the ground, his arm tightly being bent backwards, as he struggled in earnest.

"Who the fuck are you and why are you following her?" Logan spat out.

Veronica hurried over just as he managed to twist out from under Logan, shoving him away.

"Get off me, dawg," a familiar voice said. Veronica's eyes raked over him, taking in the new muscles in surprise. His hair had grown longer than she'd ever seen it, making him look like an entirely different person. Her mouth practically dropped open.

"Weevil?"

Veronica glared across the pock-marked formica table top at Weevil and Logan before shaking her head in annoyance. She took a deep, breath and glanced around the diner, trying to get a grip on her temper. The place was reasonably clean, for this side of town, although it was tackiness personified. Whoever owned the place had taken the theme of the wild-west way too far, with barrels for seats, the tables in the middle, and every inch of the walls covered in memorabilia. Logan picked up a menu, then dropped it suddenly. Veronica rolled her eyes as Logan looked around the place with a disgusted expression.

"Is it me or is everything sticky in here?" Logan asked with an exaggerated grimace.

"The Hilton is just down the road, you should have mentioned you wanted something gourmet." Weevil mumbled. "I hear the caviar's nice there."

"I bet your palate is wicked sophisticated after all the time you spent in the clink," Logan said with a yawn. "Did they make you eat Mac N' Cheese with your fingers, or did they let you use a spoon?"

"I didn't even know you were out of jail," Veronica interjected.

Weevil glared at Logan, before slowly turning his attention to Veronica and answering her question, "Got out early."

"So you thought you'd just stalk her for what…kicks?" Logan asked, leaning back and tapping his fingers on the table in his best cop impression.

"No," Weevil said. "There was a reason." He glanced away from Veronica, suddenly looking pensive.

"Can I just say, before you tell me this fantastic reason," Veronica started, "you _really_ suck at it. I saw you constantly."

Weevil sighed. "You are really annoying to keep up with."

"I'm very sorry I didn't make your illegal activities easier on you," Veronica snapped. "Now spill."

Weevil shifted. "Your dad hired me to follow you after the attacked. He was worried about you."

Veronica sighed. "I should have guessed." She slammed her hand down on the table. "God, I can't believe him. How could he not tell me that?"

"He's just trying to keep you safe, Vee."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "I'm not a child. I don't need following everywhere."

"Did you know the van was found?" Weevil asked.

Veronica frowned. "No. Did they find anything in it?"

He looked distinctly uncomfortable as he shifted in his seat. Logan's eyes narrowed as Veronica prodded, "What? What was in there?"

"I don't know," he finally said.

"Liar," Veronica said immediately.

"Just some rope," he amended. He still wouldn't meet her eye and she gritted her teeth.

"Weevil, just tell me," Veronica implored.

"Come on, she deserves to know," Logan said.

"Rope. A camera. Shears."

Weevil continued to stare at her intently as her breath caught. She looked down at the table, her eyes flicking over the surface at her mind raced. Her throat burned and her stomach twisted as every single one of her haunting dreams came to life vividly in her mind. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to will them away, tried to keep breathing and make her heart stop pounding. All she could hear was a high pitched rushing noise, until a voice broke through.

"Veronica? Veronica?" Logan called insistently, as her eyes snapped back open again, and she was flooded with harsh reality.

Weevil was staring at her in concern, and she could feel Logan's hand warm on hers.

Veronica pushed back in her seat and stood up. "Excuse me," she muttered as she rushed towards the bathroom. She burst through the door and went into the nearest stall. Falling to her knees, she wretched painfully. She was glad she hadn't eaten when she had nothing to bring back up.

She fell back against the wall, her eyes closed again as her head rested on the cracked, dirty tile. She heard the door creek open and felt someone crouch down by her. She could feel his warmth and smell the spiced apple scent of his aftershave.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, and she felt him gently brush some of her hair out of her face. She twisted towards him and rested her hair against his chest, as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," he murmured. "Not if I can help it."

Veronica basked in the feeling - for a moment - of his strong arms keeping her safe from the world. She wished she could stay like that forever, tucked away from everyone else, but she knew it was just a silly dream. Toby's icy blue eyes burned in her mind, and she felt a flicker of guilt. He was probably sitting at home right now, maybe even thinking about her.

Taking a deep breath, she untangled herself from him and stood up. "Come on," she said. "Weevil will be waiting."

She turned and walked out, leaving Logan staring after her.

TBC...

I'm on a number of people's alerts and favourites list for this fic, but have had practically no feedback! Please let me know what you're all thinking!


	6. Good, Better, Best

"You-" Veronica spluttered, "you have a _job_?" Her eyes twinkled with amusement as Logan looked affronted.

"I _am_ capable of working you know," Logan protested.

"But you! Logan Echolls! The guy who has a maid to fluff his pillow, room service to make his snacks…"

"_Had_," he corrected. "I have become an excellent sandwich maker, thank you very much."

"But why?"

He frowned. "Well, I get hungry…"

"Why do you need a _job_?" Veronica clarified impatiently.

Logan looked at her as he shifted in the sand they were both laying on. Veronica was looking up at the clear vast night sky. The moon was full and cast a pure silvery glow across the beach. The light played across her hair, making her look almost celestial with her hair glowing in the moonlight. He'd never seen her look so beautiful in his life, and he swallowed hard as he forced himself to look away.

"Rehab recommended I get one. You know, gives me stability," he said, forcing himself to sound blasé and not let her know how much she was affecting him. It had become their routine to meet nightly. They had often sat silently over the past few weeks, but had recently began to talk to either other more and more – usually just small talk or idle chatter. Logan worried constantly at the lack of sleep she was getting. He only worked an hour or two a day, and Weevil and had were now tag-teaming each other on following Veronica, so he could catch up on his sleep in between.

"Do you and Cliff actually do any work while you're together – or do you just sit and make sarcastic comments to each other?"

Logan smirked. "He's actually impressed with my work. It's just simple stuff like filing and basic research. And I do know my ABCs well."

"That you do," Veronica responded.

OOO

There was nothing that made Wallace feel more alive than playing basketball. He could sense every single one of his muscles as he jumped, his arms outstretched, before neatly putting the ball in the hoop. His sneakers squeaked as he landed again and Richie clapped him on the back as someone else took off with the ball. Wallace grinned as he reached up and wiped the perspiration off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Coach Johnson lifted his hand and blew the whistle. "Great practise, guys. Hit the showers."

Wallace began to jog towards the locker room, looking forward to the cool water running over his overheated body.

"Fennel, a word," the coach shouted out and Wallace stopped, waiting for his team-mates to file past.

"Coach?" Wallace prompted, walking over to where he stood writing on a clipboard.

"I've been reviewing the positions on the teams and I've decided to make you a small forward."

Wallace's chest constricted as he gazed at the stone-faced man in shock. "You're demoting me?"

"Come on – there's no such thing as demotion. Each player is just as important as the next on a team," he replied.

Wallace scowled, looking away, fighting the urge to argue. "Right."

The coach leaned forward and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man! See you tomorrow."

Wallace dejectedly went back into the locker room, his shoulders slumped. He'd worked so hard to get where he was – practising daily and meeting all the requirements set by the Hearst scholarship. The strong reek of male sweat hit him and he wrinkled his nose in disgust as he walked over to where he'd left his stuff.

"What's up?" Richie asked. He was leaning over with his foot on the bench as he tied up his sneaker.

"I got made small forward," Wallace told him in a low tone.

Richie looked up in shock. "What?"

Wallace sighed. "My game hasn't been that bad, right?"

"Nah, man. You're top of your game. What crack is he smoking?" Richie frowned. "Who's he put in your place?"

Wallace shrugged. "Didn't think to ask."

Richie glanced at his watch. "I've gotta get going, but man, that sucks." Wallace nodded as Richie took off.

OOO

Veronica's hand began to cramp as she hurried to keep up with the lecturer as he droned on about Bowlby's attachment theory. He paused to turn on a slideshow and Veronica took the opportunity to shake her hand out.

Her eyes drifted over to the large window next to her, and the sunlight streaming in. She could think of a thousand things she should be doing. Essays to write, cases that had details to tie up, people she should be phoning, filing that needed doing and that favour she owed Cliff. Then there were things she'd _rather_ be doing like hanging out with her boyfriend or her friends.

She glanced over at the people sitting in front of her – the girl drooling as she slept and the guy in the blue sweater sending a stuck-up looking girl pathetic puppy dog eyes, as she totally ignored him.

The professor turned the projector off and Veronica's attention darted back to him. People started to get up and she realised class was over, so she began to shove her stuff haphazardly into her bag.

She stood and joined the people walking out, when she caught sight of Nick, sitting near the teacher. He waved and nodded with his head for her to go over.

"No matter how much effort I put into making that slideshow, someone always falls asleep," he said in mock-dejection.

"At least it wasn't me," Veronica laughed. "It could so easily have been – no offence meant."

Nick smiled. "You going to the party tonight?"

"I think so," Veronica replied. "Toby said he was. Wallace and Mac said they'd show."

"What about Sarah?" he asked, trying for casual but failing miserably.

"I'm not sure," Veronica said. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," he said quickly.

A teasing smile flitted across her lips. "Do you have a particular interest in Sarah's where-abouts?"

He scratched the top of his head, looking away as a blush stole across his cheeks. "Uh, well…" he stuttered.

"I'll ask her to show if I see her," Veronica laughed. "But I promise I won't tell her you were asking."

"Thanks," Nick replied, looking even more embarrassed.

OOO

Veronica hated the smell of parties. The scent of a roomful of different perfume and aftershave mingled together to create one putrid, overly flowery, too spicy mix. Not to mention the overpowering smell of beer and spirits being an often choking addition.

Veronica jumped back as Wallace's roommate, Ross, tottered towards her, his beer splashing everywhere in his drunken stupor. The people nearby laughed obnoxiously, doing nothing to help her. She scowled and pushed him away, before she made her way over to where Wallace stood.

"See your asshole roommate is here," Veronica groused. "And he really is _that_ socially stunted."

Wallace gave her a weak smile back. She noticed immediately that it wasn't as bright as normal, and he looked depressed. The look was so unlike Wallace, it made her stomach churn. The last time he'd looked like that he'd skipped town for weeks and there was no way she could cope with that right now.

"What's up?" she asked in concern, her forehead wrinkling.

"I got bumped to small forward," he told her with a sigh.

"Is that bad?" she queried.

He nodded. "It's not the best position – that's the Point Guard, which I was playing. I asked around, and my team-mates think I'm on fire."

"'Course you are, you're Air Fennel!" Veronica said, in her best peppy voice, before she added in her normal voice, "So you think something weird is happening?"

"It's Neptune, right?"

"Right," she agreed.

He smiled, brighter than before. "Lucky I've got you to fix it then!"

She smiled, trying to hide the weariness from it. "Sure you have. I'll get right on it."

Veronica turned just as a girl with colourful hair was walking past. She bumped into her and stepped back, quickly saying, "Oh, sorry!" Recognition lit up her eyes as she surveyed the girl with a bright red dress on, with a yellow sash tying it in the middle. "Anna, right?"

"I know I know you…" Anna admitted.

"I helped you carry your boxes on the first day of school," Veronica prompted.

"Oh! It's Veronica, yeah?" Veronica nodded. "Settling into Hearst okay?" Anna queried.

"It's a good school," Veronica replied.

"It's nice to see you again," Anna said with a bright, open smile – the kind that lit up her entire face, including her eyes. Veronica almost found it foreign; you didn't see that kind of smile in Neptune often. Everyone seemed to be as screwed up as her. "I'm sure I'll see you again sometime."

Veronica turned back to Wallace who was gazing idly into the distance. She knew basketball meant the world to him, and a knock like that could set back his entire career. She gave him a sympathetic look just as Toby, Matt and Mac joined them. Toby leaned forward and kissed her in greeting.

"No Sarah?" Veronica asked.

"Nick called her earlier and asked her out for dinner," Mac informed her with a smile. "It's obviously going well as they seem to have decided to skip out on us."

"Ooh – love is in the air," Veronica grinned.

"There's a poker game going on in the other room. Mind if Matt, Wallace and I go play?" Toby asked her.

Veronica turned to him, feeling a flicker of annoyance. "Oh, do you need to go and be manly with your cards?" she said sarcastically.

"No…" Toby protested. "I just didn't think you'd been into cards."

"Did you ask?"

"I'm up for a game," Mac interrupted. 

"Count me out," Wallace said. "I've gotta go and see a man about a dog."

Veronica smirked. "You mean try and hook up with some hot girl?"

"Tom-a-toh, tom-a-toe," he grinned. "Plus I suck at poker."

"Come on then. See you later, Wallace," Veronica said, leading the way into the room next door. She spotted Anna talking to Ross out of the corner of her eye and frowned. What was someone as sunny as her doing talking to a weirdo like Ross?

The poker room was darkened apart from a single light on above the large table like a spot light. It smelt like a library – musty and dry. A guy was already at the table, his beer in front of him as he waited for additional players. Veronica narrowed her eyes as she tried to place his familiar face.

"Mind if we join?" Toby asked.

"Go ahead," the guy shuffling replied. He cast a withering look at Mac and Veronica as they slid into seats. "It will be a berry patch." Veronica's eyes narrowed as she surveyed him, realising who he was – the frat guy who had wanted to hook up sometime.

"Fighting talk, tough guy," Veronica said, rolling her eyes. "I see chauvinistic assholes are abundant in this room."

The guy peered at her before his eyebrows rose. "Beth, right?" he asked.

Veronica shook her head. "Nope. I'm Veronica. And this is Mac, Matt and Toby," she replied, pointing around the room.

"Oh, sorry. You looked familiar. I'm Michael," he introduced as he lit up a cigar. He took a long drag and puffed it back out. Mac scowled as the tendrils of smoke wafted across her face.

"Ante up," Michael said.

They all put in their chips and Michael began dealing the cards out. They all surveyed their cards.

"I bet two," Mac said.

"I see your bet and raise you by eight," Veronica said evenly.

Matt dropped his cards with a disgusted expression. "Fold."

"Call," Toby followed.

"Are you sure you wanna play, honey?" Michael asked, looking at Veronica with a smirk. "Why don't you pass and let us big boys play?"

"Aw, got a crappy hand?" Mac cut in. "Need to be a patronising dick to make up for it?"

"Raise you ten," Michael announced, ignoring her.

Mac sighed. "Fold."

Toby and Michael laid their hands. Toby had two pairs, but Michael had a flush.

"Come on, Princess, show us your… hand," Michael prompted to Veronica.

She took an extortionate amount of pleasure at laying down her winning cards. Toby flashed her a proud smile, which she returned, as she pulled the chips towards her. 

OOO

Veronica shifted her bag on her shoulder as she stole a look over her shoulder. Seeing no one was coming, she darted into the boys locked room. The thick stench – a mixture of rancid socks and body odour hit her, and she grimaced.

The room was empty as she walked along the edge, looking down at the rows of lockers for a good place to put the bug. She'd already sneaked into the coach's office and placed one under his desk. Bags littered the benches, and clothes and towels were strewn everywhere. Veronica narrowed her eyes as she tried to determine where the coach would be most likely to stand if he came in here.

She heard the sound of a whistle coming from the direction of the door that connected to the gym and froze. She hadn't expected them to be finishing this early. The sound of door slammed open and panic seized her. She turned towards the exit, but it was too far – she'd be spotted. She caught sight of the shirt Wallace had been wearing at lunch that day and darted towards the locker next to it. With deft hands she turned the combination lock

_His birthday – so predictable and oh, so handy right now._

Veronica jumped into the large locker and quietly closed the door as she heard footsteps. A foul smell began to evade her senses and she tried to hold her breath. Chatter filled the rooms as the whole basketball team swept in. She could hear the showers being turned on as she peeked through the vent. Wallace appeared in front of her, lifting his damp jersey top over his head. She winced and uncomfortably pulled her hands up in the small space to cover her face.

_Seeing my BFF naked is so not on the list of things to do before I die._

She heard the clicking sound of the lock being turned and the door swung open. Wallace's eyes widened comically as Veronica peeked through her hands. She breathed a sigh of a relief when she realised that he was holding a towel that covered him from seeing something which would scar her for life. A blush had ignited across her as she pleaded with him with her eyes.

"Uh…" Wallace managed in a strangled voice, before he slammed the door shut with a bang.

She tried to sink further down into the locker, dying with embarrassment as she listened to the door swing open one by one as they all left. 

The room finally fell silent and Veronica could see Wallace's stuff was gone. Suddenly a sinking feeling swept over her as she pressed her palms against the cool, metallic door and pushed. The lock held tight. She sucked a breath in as her eyes fluttered shut as the fleeting imagined smell of gasoline invaded the small space. She'd seen Logan around earlier, clearly on 'follow Veronica and bug the crap out of her duty' as she termed it, or 'protection' according to Logan and Weevil. Of course – now that she could actually do with a hand -- he was nowhere in sight. Although she couldn't say she'd exactly want her ex-boyfriend having to rescue her from being trapped in a boy's locker room.

The door opened again and she looked out, trying to see if it was Wallace. She heard a voice clear before a voice said, "You're late, Lewis."

"I'm sorry," said another voice which obviously belonged to Lewis. "It isn't easy to get that kind of cash. My parents would notice."

"You know what will happen if you don't hurry. Your little cheating habit will become public knowledge. You have two days."

Veronica heard footsteps again, then the door open and close twice. She shifted and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She was just about to try and call Wallace when the door clicked open. Her heart stopped at the fear of being caught, as she blinked at the harsh light. Wallace appeared in front of her with a grin on his face.

"Oh, Ms Mars – what are you up to? So desperate for some action you need to hide in the boy's locker room?" He moved out of her way and began to walk towards the door.

"Yeah, that's it," she said, clambering out. "Just wanted to see what you looked like in the buff."

He whirled around with a horrified expression. "You didn't _see_ anything, did you?"

"No!" she exclaimed.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Nothing! Not a tiny thing," she confirmed firmly.

"_Tiny_?" Wallace protested, his mouth falling open. "Fennel men aren't tiny. We're known for…"

"Wallace!" Veronica interrupted, punching him in the arm. "Bleach – now!"

"I'm just sayin'," Wallace huffed, holding the door open for her.

They began to walk along the hallway, which was blessedly empty. Large windows lined it and sunlight streamed through. A large poster advertising the college's latest production of _A Midsummer's Night Dream_ caught her eye. She remembered the first time she read the book in ninth grade. Logan had managed to forget his book every week, so she shared hers with him. He had made sarcastic comments under his breath as the teacher read it out loud and kept making her giggle. Eventually they were forced to sit on opposite sides of the classroom.

"Were you in there all along?" Veronica asked, breaking out of her reverie as they walked towards the cafeteria. 

Wallace nodded. "I was hiding in the shower room. Take it you heard what was said?"

"Uh-huh," Veronica agreed, "and the plot thickens."

OOO

Veronica reached out and knocked sharply on the door. She pulled her earphones out, wrapped them neatly around her iPod and put it carefully in her bag. She really needed to start leaving it at home, she decided. She had a habit of putting it on in class when the lecture was getting dull and tuning out.

The door opened slowly and Sarah peeked out. Her hair was in wild disarray and she blinked blearily at her in her Yummy Kiwi pyjamas.

"Hi, Veronica," she croaked out.

"Hey, Party Girl. Rough night?" Veronica said.

Sarah groaned in response and stepped back to allow Veronica to breeze past. Sarah padded back over to her bed and flopped down with a soft thump.

Mac was huddled over her laptop, with her own set of earphones on. Veronica reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. Mac looked up, startled, then smiled and took them out.

"Hey, Macarena. What are you up to?"

"Encoding a website for a friend." She paused. "And never call me that again."

"Help me out and it's a done deal," Veronica responded.

"What do you need?" Mac asked, making a show of flexing her fingers ready.

Veronica handed her a piece of paper. "Ian Johnson, the basketball coach. His bank name and details. I really need to see what he's been depositing into his account lately."

Mac let out a laugh. "You don't make it easy, do you? Banks have some of the best encryption on the internet. You better take a seat – could take awhile."

OOO

"Veronica!"

She turned and smiled as Wallace jogged towards her, side-stepping the students walking across campus. "Well, I've got news," she said as he reached her. He nodded curiously. "Mac and I looked into his bank accounts. He's had a number of deposits from other players on your team. Doing background checks on them, they all have one thing in common – they're rich."

They began to walk down the main pathway between the classes and the campus shop. She handed him the list of names of all the players that had made a deposit.

"Right," Wallace said, his forehead wrinkling as he tried to figure it out. 

"They're all good players, right?" Veronica questioned.

"All but Paul Kelly, the guy that's replaced me. He wasn't even on the team before."

Veronica frowned, mulling it over before she asked, "The others - are they all good students?"

Wallace shrugged. "I dunno. You have to keep above a 3.0GPA to stay on the team. It's a NCAA requirement to make sure you aren't at college just to play games."

Veronica nodded thoughtfully. "I'll look into their grades, see how they are doing. Maybe you can tell me from that list, if any are likely to spill if we question them about it."

Wallace nodded. "Sounds good to me."

OOO

Veronica was just coming out her class when a girl grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her away from the other students.

"I don't know if you remember me…" she began.

"Stacy," Veronica said. Like she could have forgotten her wide eyes that spoke of an untold hell, and her shuttered expression – so like one she had once worn after Shelly's party. Stacy's hair had grown out quite a lot and was now spiked up in a fashionable style.

Stacy gave her a grim smile. "Is now a good time to talk?"

Veronica nodded. "Sure. The classroom is empty now," she suggested, and they both walked back in.

Veronica pushed herself up onto a desk. She looked curiously at Stacy, her legs swinging.

"You're the only person we could think of to go to," Stacy began. "That sheriff, Lamb… he's so useless."

"If it isn't handed to him on a platter…" Veronica agreed. Her skin crawled at Stacy's words – the clear image of Lamb's laughing face as she told him of her single most horrific experience burned in her mind.

"You also got one over on those slime balls at the Phi Sigmas, and you did all that work to prove Troy was innocent. It was the stuff you said to me outside my room though… I don't know if you've been through it, and I'm not going to ask, but we didn't know who else to go to."

"Who is we?" Veronica asked.

"Fiona. Fiona Gerald. She was attacked a few weeks ago. She was a friend of a friend and we got talking afterwards. We've become quite close. It's nice having someone who knows how it feels, who isn't judging you…"

Veronica nodded in understanding. She'd never ever felt so alone as after that morning. Feeling everyone's eyes burning into her as she walked down Neptune High's hallway. She felt naked and vulnerable, her body still hurting and hollow, her soul feeling like it was crumbling inside the cracked shell of her body. Hearing the whispers of 'slut' under their breath then finding 'whore' written across her locker in bright red marker. She had held her head high as she scrubbed it off, laughter surrounding her. Even the teachers seemed to have – oh, Veronica, you were such a _nice_ girl – written in their eyes. The only friendly eyes she had in the world were her father's and her dog's. 

"Another girl was raped last night," Stacy continued, spitting the words out angrily. "At the Parkwood Halls party."

Veronica straightened up. "Really? I was there. Who?"

"A girl named Anna Parsons."

Veronica felt an icy chill sweep around her as the name echoed in her mind. "Oh, god. I spoke to her."

Stacy's eyes widened, then she added, "She's in a bad way. We went to see her today." She sighed. "He has to be stopped, Veronica."

"I know," Veronica said simply. "I need statements. I need to know every single person any of you spoke to. I need _details_."

OOO

Veronica pressed her toes into the sand as they sat on the beach next to each other. Logan's arm moved, brushing against her briefly as he traced a nonsensical pattern on the beach with a shell he'd picked up. The salty scent of the ocean did nothing to soothe her as she watched the dark waves crashing on the shore, bringing frothy white foam with every break, before dragging it back out into its murky depths. The waves seem to match her mood – turbulent and tumultuous.

Her stomach churned, and she stifled a sob. She'd never been so exhausted in her entire life. She felt like someone had attached something to her and sucked every last bit of her energy out of her she had, bottled it and sold it on eBay. She leaned forward, her head pressed into her hands.

She could feel Logan's concerned gaze, burning through fragile skin, past muscles, deeper than tendons and bones – to _her_. She looked up, turning her liquid blue eyes to him. He always looked so different in the moonlight, dark and shadowy but his tender eyes clearly visible.

"I can taste it," she finally said and Logan looked slightly startled she'd spoken. Her body was held stiffly as her gaze remained steadily on the ocean, avoiding his eyes. Her lower lip was red where she had been gnawing on it.

He recovered quickly enough to ask, "Taste what?"

"The rum. The vodka. Whatever else they poured down my throat. I wake up and I swear I can _still_ taste it."

Logan had frowned as she began to speak, but it turned to realisation as she continued.

"I can hear them – jeering, laughing. Feel the pain of them holding me down. Every time I close my eyes I'm back there, in that room with _him_. It took me so long to try and feel clean – like I wasn't covered in invisible fingerprints that don't belong to me. And whatever I did, they just wouldn't go. It was getting a little better until I figured out the rest." She looked down. "It's kinda worse now. It was awful not knowing – not knowing who took my virginity or even how many people it might have been. But knowing? Sometimes it's worse."

She was startled when she realised her hand was in his. She didn't know if she had put it there, or if he had. His eyes were swimming… pain, regret and guilt battling it out.

"I'm so tired," she said softly. "I just want to sleep one night and not see him."

"Veronica…" he began.

"It's pathetic, isn't it!" she exclaimed with a self-deprecating smile.

He opened his mouth again, frowning with concern before she said, "So that's my excuse for being here. What about you?"

He was silent for a moment, watching the waves she found so interesting. "The first night was a fluke," he began, "I just had some energy to burn and I like the beach at night. The others? Just wanted to see you."

OOO

Logan padded out of his bedroom in bare feet into the living room, yawning. His head ached, having spent the night tossing and turning – Veronica's heartbreaking words running through his head on a loop. He could see her liquid blue eyes telling him of an untold hell, she could never put into words.

_He leaned forward, sprinkling the salt over her half-unconscious body.  
_  
He reached up and rubbed at his unruly hair before he opened the door and retrieved the mail from the mailbox.

_He put the lime in her mouth and stepped back._

He began to flick through it, throwing the junk mail straight into the bin and putting the bills in a pile, looking half-heartedly for a handwritten envelope of some kind. Soon his hands were empty and he sighed. He dug up his phone from under the TV guide and checked for any new messages. Finding none, we walked through to the open plan kitchen and opened the large fridge door. He picked up the milk carton and took a swig from it.

_"There you go, go for it," Logan said, letting the other guy step forward._

"Happy birthday to me," he murmured to himself.

He didn't really know who he was expecting anything from. It wasn't like Trina was going to tear herself away from her new role as a lap dancer -- in some movie that Logan knew was going to bomb – to send him a card. Similarly, he didn't expect Dick had any idea of when his birthday was, let alone to bring himself out of the continual drunken stupor he was in to send him anything. It wasn't like Duncan would risk his daughter's life, the girl he'd given up his entire life for to say it with Hallmark. And Veronica…

_"Wait, dude, you can't be the cavalry and a martyr!" _

Logan took another swig of the milk, closing his eyes and imagining for a second the cool creamy liquid was burning and mind-numbing. His therapist, Joe, had always said that holidays were the hardest and to keep people around him if he could.

_He cracked open the innocent looking pill and emptied the contents into the drink._

He'd always been surrounded by people. His family, his family's adoring public, the 09ers and his inner circle. One by one they had been stripped away and at nineteen years old, Logan realised he had no one left. Even the 09ers had all disappeared pretty quickly after graduation. Taking jobs at Daddy's company, travelling the world or college.

_"Hey, I'm sorry, dude. I mean, you're totally right. It's no way to have fun, huh?" He handed Duncan the drink, who took it and smiled._

He walked into the living room and fell back on the sofa with a sigh. He picked up the remote and began channel hopping – finally settling on a _Ninja Turtle_ rerun.

_"Cheers."_

OOO

Veronica winced as the guy who replaced Wallace, Paul Kelly – floundered and dropped the ball for the third time. His fellow team-mates exchanged looks of exasperation while Wallace looked like he wanted to pick up one of the spectator seats and beat him to death with it.

"He's so bad," Nick remarked as the group of them watching in sickened horror.

"How could the coach replace Fennel for him?" Josh put in. "He's fucking shit."

Veronica nodded solemnly. "Poor Wallace."

She spotted Toby walking along the edge of the court with a cardboard tray, and the scent of hotdogs wafted towards her. Her stomach twisted at the thought of food right now; the conversation with Stacy, and the memories it brought up, spinning around in her mind.

"Bout time, mate," Josh said as he got there, practically snatching half the food away.

"Such a pig," Toby said, rolling his eyes.

"Why you don't get fat with the amount of crap you eat – I'll never know," Nick remarked.

"Veronica?" Toby said, motioning towards the tray.

"I'm full," she lied. "Ate before." She picked up the cup of diet coke from him and took a sip. "Thank you," she smiled.

"How's the game going?" Toby asked, sitting down next to her. She grimaced. "That bad, huh?"

"Worse. The rest of the team seem to be so stunned by this jackwad, they are playing shit."

"Worst I've ever seen them," Nick put in. "And I haven't missed a game since I started."

OOO

After the game, Veronica walked around to meet Wallace outside. He said he would try and bring along the most likely person to talk that could find. As promised, someone was with him, as well as Richie. Wallace introduced the other guy as Kevin and they went in the burger bar across the street. The guys took awhile ordering super-sized everything while Veronica settled into a booth.

They came back and put their trays down.

"Fry?" Wallace offered.

"How generous," Veronica said dryly. Wallace grinned.

"Look, Kevin, I'm going to get straight to the point here. We know you've paid Coach Johnson some money, we have proof. We would like to know why."

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he froze, his hand almost at his open mouth.

"Oh," he finally said. "It was just…"

"Save the lies," Veronica cut in. She pulled out her laptop and clicked play. They listened to the recording she'd captured of Lewis's conversation with the bug. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm tired, cranky and really want to go home. You paid Johnson because…"

"This stays between us," he said in his soft-southern drawl, and Veronica nodded curtly for him to continue. "My grades were slipping and he offered to put them up. I had other stuff going on, you know? My mom was sick and I didn't have time to study as much as I needed to. Then he started asking for payment – give him money or he'd tell people I was cheating."

Wallace grimaced. "What an asshole."

"It's not like I can't afford it, so I just paid. I'd prefer to pay to stay on the team than get kicked out." He paused before he said uncomfortably, "Look, I've got to go. See y'all later." He took off towards the door. Wallace gave him a second before he pounced on the untouched food he left behind. 

Richie shook his head. "I've never heard of anything like this before."

Veronica looked thoughtful. "Looking at the others that have paid, it's a nice little scheme he's got going. The difference is: all the other players who paid were already on the team. But Paul - he wasn't and he sucks. Do you think there is an main database staff have access to that contains grades?"

Richie nodded in agreement. "Sounds about right."

"So what if this Paul found out what he was doing, and did a spot of blackmailing of his own?" Veronica pondered.

"Makes a lot of sense," Wallace replied.

Veronica sighed. "We need proof."

"Not necessarily," Richie said. "If we tipped off the Dean of Student Affairs, she'd have to launch an investigation. And that could be done anonymously."

"They aren't likely to ignore such a serious allegation," Veronica agreed.

"They could easily monitor player's grades," Wallace added. "See if they change. It's a total embarrassment to have such an awful player on the team – they would be interested in that. People work _hard_ to get on the team and the school has a reputation on the court."

"Never let it rest, Wallace!" Veronica exclaimed. "Until your good is better and your better is best. Or just blackmail the coach and skip all that crap."

"You are never allowed to quote Tim Duncan to me again, Veronica," Wallace scowled. "Ever!"

OOO

The night's sky was filled with massive puffs of slate grey clouds. Veronica shivered and drew her coat around her small frame tighter as she walked towards the spot she'd come to think of as her and Logan's place. The wind was much stronger and the waves were in a frenzy – crashing loudly and drowning out other sounds.

Veronica saw the bottle the second Logan came into view. Backup began tugging excitedly on the lead as Veronica surveyed the bottle through narrowed eyes. She recognised the clear label with a black stripe as Armadale. She sighed – he couldn't have fallen off the wagon with something cheap, could he.

As she drew closer, she was surprised to see the liquid reached the top.

"Logan?" she greeted questioningly. He looked up at her and she flinched at the painful gaze that stared back at her. "What have you done?" she asked softly.

He ignored her accusation and gestured towards the bottle. "I wanted to. I didn't."

She let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding as relief filled her. His next words took her by surprise.

"I'm sorry." His voice broke on the word and her mind was cast back to him sitting on the bench at Alterna-Prom with a sorrowful but drunken look as he'd said the same thing. This time his eyes were perfectly lucid.

"What for?" she asked as she sunk down next to him in the soft sand.

"I'm the reason. For the party… I could have stopped them, not joined in. Told them to back the fuck off. I shouldn't have been such a damn asshole."

Her forehead drew together. "You didn't know what it would lead to." She looked away, her breathing harsh.

He reached to her hesitantly, putting his arm on her shoulders. She immediately shrugged it off, swallowing hard as emotions battled within her.

She noted the look of hurt on his face and regretted it, but if she had let him comfort her – she'd become a sobbing mess _again_, and she couldn't allow that.

"I should have!" he continued as if nothing had happened. "If I hadn't have drugged Duncan, he would have stayed with you or taken you home. He wouldn't have taken you into a bedroom then left you."

"He didn't," Veronica corrected, then realised her mistake. "Beaver was screwed in the head – you didn't know that," she added quickly.

"How could I not have noticed? I was supposed to be his _friend_."

"What's this about, Logan?" Veronica asked, this time putting her hand on his arm gently. She'd never seen Logan like this before when he was sober. He was normally just as closed off as her about his feelings, hiding behind his harsh words and holier than thou demeanour.

"I didn't know. I'm so stupid and selfish… but it wasn't until last night, when I saw how much it hurt you… and I could have stopped that. I could have saved you so much pain."

"Logan…" she began.

"I just don't know what to say to you."

Her face smoothed into sympathy. "Logan…"

"I'm sure nineteen is too early to wake up, realise you screwed up with everyone you cared about and have no one left."

"Y-you have me," she said hesitantly.

Logan looked away. "Not exactly."

He stood up, gave her a grim nod and walked away, leaving the bottle behind.

Veronica sighed and picked it up. There was a trash can on the way home she could dump it. 

OOO

Veronica groaned as her phone began to ring, startling her out of a deep sleep. She leaned forward and grabbed it off her side table.

"Mm?" she murmured into it.

"Veronica, you should be here!" Wallace exclaimed.

"No classes 'til noon," she grumbled.

"Yeah, but it's worth it. The Dean found the log in times of Johnson changing the grades and he admitted it, so they fired him. Paul was kicked off the team and he threw a fit. The other players got in trouble for paying him, but I don't think they are going to take further action."

"Good," Veronica replied sleepily.

"It's not official yet – it's early in the day, but I'm pretty sure you're talking to Hearst's newest Point guard."

Veronica smiled happily. "Your rightful place."

"I've gotta go," Wallace said. "They're callin' an emergency team meeting. See you at lunch."

The phone clicked off and she put it back on the side, turned over and snuggled back into the warmth of her duvet.

OOO

Logan felt bone tired as he turned the corner to his road. Every footstep added to the ache building up in his calf muscles. He'd been out since the previous afternoon, unable to face going home to an empty house, especially on his birthday. Luckily it had been Weevil's day to follow Veronica, allowing him to wallow in self-pity. After wandering around Neptune for hours, Logan had spent the early hours of the morning in an all-night café, sipping watery, flavourless coffee.

His footsteps echoed around the street as he sidestepped a pile of trash bags at the end of a drive – something that never would have been found in the 09er district. All their dirty laundry was aired _behind_ closed doors.

Logan reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the cold metal keys. He finally reached home and was just about to slide the key into the lock when a tin sitting at the edge of the doorstep caught his eye. He frowned and ducked down to pick it up. He slowly lifted the lid and his mouth dropped open to find a homemade cake with 'Happy Birthday Logan!' iced across it. He poked it gently and found it to be ever so slightly stale, and realised it had probably been put there before his embarrassing little visit to the beach.

He slowly lifted it out of the tin and held it up with a surprised smile. It tilted slightly to the left.

OOO

_TBC..._


	7. Stand By Me

A/N: This chapter was written by sk670. My original plan for this fic was to write it all during the summer. I was moving a few weeks before season three started, so skk670 wrote this chapter, and moire2 has written the chapter after this. The last two will then be back to me.

ooo

Veronica popped the top on the Styrofoam coffee cup and breathed deeply. No matter how tough or boring working at Java the Hut had been, it did have one undeniable benefit. The Hut brewed the best coffee in the world. It had almost been worth all the back-breaking hours for the coffee breaks alone.

And lately, she needed the boost more than ever. The long, sleepless nights were wearing her down. There were days when the strain of school combined with the fear and worry caused by the on-going campus rapes made Veronica question the sanity of leaving her safe little apartment and her fiercely protective pit bull.

But the constant over-protective concern from her father, her best friend and her boyfriend firmed her resolve to get up, get out and live her life. Keith, Wallace and Toby were smothering her with their gentle voices and their eagerness to take care of her. As if having Tweddle Dee and Tweedle Dum, a.k.a. Weevil and Logan, dogging her every step wasn't annoying enough.

Automatically, she glanced over as she walked back to her car with her prized cup of mocha java in hand. Logan was parked in his Xterra at the far end of the lot, not even trying to blend in with the rest of the early morning coffee crowd. But then, how could anyone driving around in a big, yellow submarine blend?

Veronica took a life-giving sip of the hot brew as she settled into her own car. She turned the key in the ignition with a smooth, practiced motion but nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again and still nothing. She put the cup down, pumped the gas and tried again. Damn, still nothing.

So now what? She could pop the hood to check the engine, but that would alert Logan that something was wrong. After their last encounter on the beach, she was trying to keep her distance from him. Seeing him with that bottle, even if he hadn't drank from it, had upset her more than she wanted to think about.

And he'd said nothing about the cake she had so painstakingly baked and iced for him. Which meant he either didn't like it or he hadn't gone home to see it. Knowing Logan, he hadn't gone home. Unbidden the image of him from the television show the night of her birthday party rose in her memory. The memory of Logan, drunk off his ass, with bimbo of the day clinging to him, still hurt.

At least now he was sober and might even remember where he picked up the bimbos the morning after.

She yanked out her cell phone and pressed her second preset. The call rang five times before going into Toby's voicemail. Veronica sighed. She couldn't hang up without leaving a message, Toby would freak. This, in turn, would lead to her father freaking out, which would probably cause him to insist that Weevil ride shotgun with her twenty-four/seven. This was not going to be her day.

"Hi, honey," she said with fake cheer. "I just stopped at the Hut for some coffee and my car won't start. I'm going to call Weevil and he'll check it out. Don't worry if I'm a little late to school this morning."

She disconnected and dialed Weevil. The phone rang five times and she despaired that Weevil wasn't going to answer either when the line clicked.

"Yeah?" Weevil muttered. His voice sounded hoarse and scratchy.

"Good morning, sunshine," Veronica chirped. "And how are you this lovely day?"

"Veronica?" Weevil croaked. "It's six-_frickin_-o'clock in the morning. Why are you calling me?"

"I need your help," she admitted.

"What? Where are you? What's wrong?" Weevil sounded alert now. "And where the hell is Echolls? He's supposed to be watching you this morning."

"I'm at the Hut and he's parked at the end of the lot." Veronica looked over her shoulder to confirm.

"Then why the hell did you wake me?" Weevil demanded. "He's up, he's there and he'll trip all over himself to help you with anything."

Veronica flushed uncomfortably. Over the last couple of weeks, she had started to believe that about Logan, too. But, now that he had ignored her cake, she was no longer sure. She ruthlessly suppressed the memory of the television entertainment report and focused on the conversation at hand.

"Weevil, my car won't start," she explained. "What good would it do to ask Logan for help? The only part of a car he's familiar with is the gas pedal and backseat."

Weevil grunted. "Rumor has it, you're pretty familiar with his backseat, too."

She ground her teeth. "Are you going to help me or not?" she demanded.

"I'll be there in five," he promised and disconnected.

Veronica sighed and dialed again. She might as well use this time to keep the men in her life mollified. Wallace was at an early basketball practice so he wouldn't start hovering over her until later that morning. She had already called Toby, so that only left her dad.

She dialed Keith's private office line and Beverly answered.

"Hi, Bev, is my dad around?" Veronica asked, careful to keep her tone bright.

She may be fatigued and worn down, but she'd be dammed if she let anyone know about it. She was sick and tired of everyone treating her like she was made of spun sugar and might shatter from the smallest vibration.

"Hi, Veronica," Beverly responded. "I'm sorry, he's in a meeting."

Beverly gentled her voice and spoke in a soft, soothing murmur. Veronica gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the sympathetic tone of Beverly's voice. Everybody, except Weevil, spoke to her that way now. Ever since the last rape, Keith, Toby and Wallace spoke to her in low voices, as if speaking at a normal volume would spook her and force her to relive her beating. As though they thought she had somehow forgotten it and loud voices would trigger her memory. How could she possibly forget that night?

"I didn't know that," Veronica replied, still keeping her voice strong. "He was gone before I woke up."

"The Hearst school board and parents are livid," Beverly explained gently. "Your father and Sheriff Lamb are meeting with them right now. Judy, your dad's press secretary, and I have been here since five taking notes and setting up briefings. It's so crazy here right now that Toby is fielding my calls so I can focus on typing up these notes."

"Oh, okay, then I won't keep you," Veronica assured and hung up.

She took a deep breath to compose herself. It was getting harder and harder to stay strong. Anna's rape – and Stacy's and the others – was never far from Veronica's mind. Just like her own rape by Beaver, it ate at her constantly. No girl should ever have to suffer what they were being forced to go through. She knew her father was putting his heart and soul into the investigation. He'd kick Lamb out from behind his desk and take over the investigation himself if he could.

But it wasn't enough. The rapists were still out there, free to kidnap and torture another unsuspecting girl, free to destroy another innocent life. They had to be stopped, but how? What could she do to track them down and put an end to the horror before another girl was forced to join their unhappy society?

The slamming of a car door brought Veronica out of her painful thoughts. And she was thankful for it. It was bad enough that these thoughts filled her mind at night, to the point that she couldn't even sleep. She couldn't allow them to take over her days, too.

She looked over and saw Weevil getting out his car. Veronica leaned down to press the hood release under her dashboard. Immediately, a wave of dizziness washed over her. She hadn't told anyone, but ever since the beating, she had been having dizzy spells when she leaned over or got up too fast. She wasn't going to let anyone know, of course. If she thought Keith, Wallace and Toby were overbearing now, they'd be impossible if they found out she was still suffering effects from that night.

Veronica straightened and took careful, deep breaths until the nausea passed then opened her car door. She joined Weevil under the hood and looked at the engine, careful not to lean over too much.

"So, what do you think, doc?" she asked flippantly. "Will she live?"

Weevil grunted as he poked and prodded. "Everything looks okay. You probably just have a short." He twisted a few wires and nodded to her. "Try it now."

Veronica left the door open as she got back into the Le Baron and turned the key. Still nothing. Weevil nodded briefly and stuck his head back under the hood. She slumped back into the seat. Great. Now she was going to be late for her first class. How much worse was this morning going to get?

A shadow appeared at her side and blocked out the morning sun. She looked over to see Logan standing at the open car door.

"What's going on?" Logan demanded.

Veronica waved her hand to the upraised hood. "Car trouble."

Logan shook his head. "Why didn't you call me? I'm parked ten feet away from you."

"What would be the point?" Veronica demanded. "You can't do anything about it."

She ignored the hurt expression that crossed Logan's face as she got out of the car and went back to Weevil. Logan's feelings were not her problem, anymore than worrying about his drinking or his bimbos. She had more than enough problems of her own.

"What's the verdict, judge?" she asked Weevil.

Weevil motioned for her to step back and slammed the hood shut. "I think it's in the electrical system. I'm going to have to take it to the yard to check it out."

Veronica sighed. "Wonderful."

Weevil grinned at her as he took out his cell phone. "Could be worse," Weevil pointed out cheerfully.

She glared at him. "Really? How?"

"You could be stuck driving around in a big, yellow banana," he responded cheekily.

Weevil nodded behind her and Veronica turned to see Logan come up beside her. His expression was still tight and a little wounded. Veronica ignored the flutter in her stomach and turned back to Weevil.

"How long will it take you to fix it?" she asked anxiously.

Weevil shrugged. "Only a day or two if it's just a short. Longer if it's something more."

Veronica sighed again. What could she do? She knew a bit about cars but she couldn't bend over the engine long enough to fix anything. And Weevil took good care of her trusty Le Baron. She nodded.

"Okay, I'll set up a tow." Weevil nodded and dialed his cell phone.

Veronica turned. "Excuse me," she said to Logan, who was standing so close that she could feel his body heat.

Logan nodded and stepped aside. She went back to her door and leaned in for her book bag. The nausea swamped her so fast that she shuddered visibly. She reached out for the seatback to steady herself but her hand slipped off clumsily. She would have fallen flat on her face if Logan hadn't hooked him arm around her waist and guided her out of the car.

"Are you okay?" he asked anxiously. "What's wrong?"

She pushed his arm away. "I guess I should have grabbed a muffin with my coffee," she said lightly. "I didn't have time to eat before I left home this morning."

Logan's eyes narrowed but she met his gaze coolly, daring him to call her a liar. He looked away first.

"Speaking of sweet, floury goodness, thanks for the birthday cake," he said, ducking his head almost shyly.

"I didn't think you liked it," she responded in a sharper voice than she had intended. "You didn't say anything before."

He colored slightly. "I didn't see it before," he explained. "I didn't go home the other night."

Veronica tried to keep her tone civil. "Well, it was your birthday," she agreed in a brittle voice. "I'm sure you and your _friends_ wanted to celebrate the occasion."

Logan looked confused. "No, I wasn't –," he started but stopped when someone called out Veronica's name.

Veronica looked past him to see Toby hurrying across the lot. Toby was dressed casually in jeans and a sweatshirt that looked hastily put together, but he was big and solid and didn't cause her to feel conflicted or anxious, unlike the boy standing next to her. Deliberately, she stepped away from Logan and walked towards Toby.

He caught her up in his arms and kissed her mouth gently. Toby was always gentle and even more so lately. On impulse, she caught his shirt in both fists and kissed him back – hard. He held the kiss for a few seconds then pulled away. He looked faintly puzzled as he looked down at her.

"I got your message," he explained.

His voice was that same gentle, soothing tone that everyone used around her. Veronica had to squelch her irritation. Toby was only trying to take care of her, just like her dad and Wallace. And it was almost enough to make Veronica want to rip off her own ears.

"Beverly told me how busy things are this morning. You didn't have to come to get me," she protested.

"I wasn't going to leave you here," Toby insisted.

Weevil came over. "I checked with my uncle," he explained. "He said it's too early so I can't take your car in yet. I'll get it towed over there by the end of the day."

Veronica turned to Weevil and smiled. "Thanks a lot, Weevil." Then she turned back to Toby. "Toby, this is Weevil," she introduced. "Weevil, this is my boyfriend, Toby."

Toby and Weevil sized each other up.

Weevil held out his at hand. "Good to meet you, man," he said.

Toby took his hand slowly. "The same here," he agreed. "So, how do you know Veronica?" he asked bluntly.

Weevil shrugged and grinned. "Veronica and I are always owing each other favors," he explained.

Toby's eyes narrowed and he shifted so that he was between Weevil and Veronica. "How about you transfer Veronica's favors over to me?" he suggested coldly.

Weevil's grin increased. "It's not like that, man," he explained. "We're on the same side, compañero."

Veronica stepped between them and rolled her eyes. "Weevil's my shadow," she explained.

Toby studied Weevil's tattoos for a moment then grinned. "So you're the one. Thanks for the assist, amigo."

Weevil shrugged. "_Cualquier cosa para el rubia_," he responded, his voice gentling, and turned back to Veronica's car.

Veronica glared at Weevil's retreating back. _Anything for the blonde._ Great, now Weevil had defected to the other side, too. Wasn't anybody going to treat her like a normal, functioning person instead of a damaged porcelain doll?

Toby grinned down at Veronica. "Let's go get you some coffee," he suggested. "Then I'll drive you to school."

"I already have a cup of coffee in the car," Veronica explained.

Toby shook his head. "But it's been nearly half an hour since you bought it," he explained. "It's cold now. Wouldn't you rather have a fresh cup?"

Veronica blinked in surprise. "I didn't know I was so predictable," she grumbled.

Toby shrugged. "I know my girl."

Veronica looked up at him and smiled. Toby was a nice guy; he wasn't tortured, he didn't drink or sleep around. Toby had a career and a sense of direction. He was a good man for her.

"Okay," she agreed and took his hand. "Let's get that coffee."

"And a muffin," a voice spoke quietly. "She didn't have breakfast this morning."

Veronica turned around and stared in surprise. Logan was still standing beside her car. He'd pulled his sleeves down over his hands and tucked in his chin into the collar as though trying to hide inside his shirt.

Toby gently detangled his fingers from hers and held his hand out to Logan. "Hi, I'm Toby," he introduced himself.

Logan stiffened but shook Toby's hand briefly. "Logan Echolls," he responded.

"Echolls," Toby mused. "That _name_ is familiar."

"Yeah," Logan agreed. "My family is infamous."

Toby merely nodded in response and took Veronica's hand again. Veronica looked back as Toby led her into the Hut. Logan was still standing beside her car, head down, looking lost and dejected.

ooo

Veronica was sitting at her desk at Mars Investigation. It had been a quiet afternoon since Toby dropped her off after school. At least it was giving her an opportunity to catch up on her paperwork. She looked up when the door opened.

"Veronica, I'm so glad you are here," Cliff said as he hurried into the room.

Veronica looked at him in surprise. Normally Cliff was relaxed and easy-going. But now it was apparent that something was wrong. His hair was disheveled and his tie was askew.

"Cliffy, what can I do to help you?" Veronica asked.

"I need you to investigate a case for me," Cliff explained.

Finally, someone who was treating her like she was a normal person. Veronica was so sick and tired of everyone trying to protect her. She wanted to feel normal again. And detective work was the most normal thing in her world.

"Sure," she agreed. "What can I do for you?"

"I need you to follow Maria Mitchell," Cliff explained

Veronica's eyebrows drew together. "Mitchell," she mussed. "I know that name."

"Yes," Cliff agreed. "She's the wife of John Mitchell, our state representative.

Veronica nodded knowingly. "And the good assemblyman's wife is having an affair, huh?" she guessed.

"Apparently," Cliff agreed.

"But why are you interested?" Veronica asked. "I can't believe that a state assemblyman is one of your clients. No offense," she added hurriedly.

"None taken," Cliff agreed easily. "But John Mitchell is no ordinary state representative."

"What so special about this one?" Veronica asked. "He's a politician. Don't they all cheat?"

"Ahh, so young to be so jaded," Cliff commented. He paused for effect. "To think, the mayor's daughter has no faith in politicians."

Veronica rolled her eyes. Cliff grinned briefly but it was apparent that he was really worried.

"I known John," Cliff explained. "He's a rare breed. A politician who really cares."

Veronica snorted cynically.

"Our opinions don't matter here, we still to help him," Cliff insisted.

"Why?" Veronica asked.

"For one thing, John Mitchell is one of the few people who helped your dad," Cliff said.

Veronica shook her head. "What do you mean? How did he help Dad?"

"When the Kanes got Keith kicked out of office, John Mitchell was one the few people who stood up for your dad and defended him," Cliff revealed. "When your dad started up Mars Investigation, John was the one who fronted him the money since no bank would touch the ousted sheriff. Now that Keith is mayor, John is his closest political ally. We can't let this hurt him."

"But how is his wife's affair going to destroy him?" Veronica asked.

"He's made his career of out of being an honest, upstanding man. If it got out that his wife has a bit on the side, it could ruin him – and your father right along with him," Cliff pointed out.

"Well, how you even know she's cheating?" Veronica asked.

"Do you remember my client, Cherry Place?"

"Oh yeah," Veronica agreed with a nod. "Doesn't she work over at the Seventh Veil?"

"She does and she got busted there for soliciting an undercover cop. She claims that the cop came on to her first."

"Of course she does," Veronica agreed with a smirk. "Are you saying that Maria Mitchell is having an affair with your client?"

"No," Cliff denied. "Cherry is telling the story of seeing Maria Mitchell coming out of the Sunrise Motel on Fifth Street. She wants to use it as leverage to keep out of jail."

Veronica looked puzzled. "The Sunrise Motel?" she repeated. "But that's a nice place. It's where people who have family as patients at Neptune Memorial stay. It's not the kind of place for people going for a midnight quickie."

"Cherry's sister goes to Neptune Memorial twice a week for dialysis," Cliff explained. "Cherry drives her there. She says the last few times she's drop her sister off, she's seen Maria Mitchell go into a room with a hot, and very young, playmate."

"Are you looking for the money shot?"

"No," Cliff responded. "I want to send the pictures to Maria anonymously to let her know that somebody knows what she's doing. I got Cherry locked down for a little while but I don't know how long. It's only a matter of time before the press sniffs it out. We've got to give Maria a chance to cover her tracks before she destroys her family and her husband's career. And your father's career right along with it."

ooo

Veronica and Mac stared out of the front windshield of Mac's car. They were parked in a shady corner of the Sunrise Motel's large, sunny parking lot. The motel was well tended, the plants were healthy and lush, the windows were sparkling clean and the parking lot swept, without even a cigarette butt to litter the glistening blacktop.

"Thanks a lot, Mac," Veronica said. "I really appreciate you bringing me out here."

Mac grinned at her. "I'm happy to do it, Veronica," she insisted. "Even Q likes to get out of the lab sometimes, Bond."

"Well," Veronica said lightly. "I hope this doesn't mean you're abandoning the high-tech toys for field work."

"Please, Veronica," Mac said. "Respect the business model. I won't go chasing after the bad guys if you don't start breaking into bank security servers. Agreed?"

Veronica grinned back at her. "Agreed."

"So, what are we looking for?" Mac asked.

"According to Cliff's client, Maria Mitchell comes here around noon," Veronica explained. "She's supposed to be meeting up with a hot, but very young, _friend_."

Mac scrunched up her nose. "A very young friend?" she repeated. "Do you mean that she's having an affair with a teenager?"

Veronica's mouth tightened. "You know, sometimes older women do have affairs with teenage boys."

Mac shrugged. "I guess in your line of work you see it all."

Veronica looked away. "Yeah," she agreed quietly, "in my line of work I see it all.'

"So do we know what this guy looks like?" Mac asked.

Veronica turned back to her, relieved to get back to business. "No, we don't," she admitted. "I do have a picture of Mrs. Mitchell. So I guess we look for young men who come into the building and then look for this woman."

Veronica pulled out a picture of Mrs. Mitchell and passed it over to Mac.

Mac studied the picture. "Mrs. Mitchell is Hispanic," she observed.

"Yeah, she is," Veronica agreed. "Is that important?"

Mac shrugged. "I read some blogs about John Mitchell. He's supposed to be clean. But he comes from really wealthy, Anglo family. They're the kind of people who can trace their family line back to the Mayflower, and do. Not the type who would welcome a Hispanic woman into their house as anything more than the maid, if you know what I mean."

Veronica studied the picture of Maria Mitchell thoughtfully. "According to my research, Maria and John Mitchell have been married for over a decade. They have two little girls."

"Maybe John is different," Mac suggested. She was quiet for a moment. "There are still some good guys out there, aren't there, Veronica?" she asked.

"Sure there are," Veronica agreed.

"Like Toby," Mac suggested.

Veronica forced a smile. "Yeah, like Toby."

"And Matt," Mac added tentatively.

This time Veronica's grin was genuine. "Sounds like things are going well between you and Matt."

Mac looked down but not before Veronica saw her begin to blush. "It's okay," she said in offhanded way.

Veronica's smile softened. "You know, Mac, it's okay to like him," she insisted gently. "Sometimes a guy is just what he says he is. I think Matt is a good guy."

Mac looked hopeful. "Do you really?" she asked. "Sometimes I'm not sure of my own judgment."

Veronica nodded soberly. "Well, my judgment isn't all that spectacular, either. I dated a drug dealer, a guy who set pools on fire and a guy who ran off with his illegitimate baby by his ex-girlfriend."

"But you seem to found the real deal this time," Mac pointed out. "Toby is sweet and honest and, as far as I know, he doesn't have any illegitimate children, isn't a pyromaniac or a drug dealer. I think you may have found a winner."

Veronica forced herself to smile again. Why was it so hard for her to be genuine about Toby? He was the real deal. So why couldn't she love him when he was so obviously crazy about her?

Mac suddenly leaned forward. "Oh my God," she said. "Check out that guy."

Veronica looked over to where she was pointing and her mouth dropped open. The guy walking up the stairs had his back to them and, oh, what a view. He was wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt that showed off his rippling muscles and glossy brown skin. His body was perfect.

Veronica and Mac were quiet as they watched the young man climb the stairs, stride along the balcony and open the door to room 204. Once he was inside, they turned to each other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mac asked.

"That he's Mrs. Mitchell 'afternoon delight'," Veronica agreed.

Mac looked shocked. "I was expecting someone older."

"He did look pretty young," Veronica agreed. "And, if this is Mrs. Mitchell's little honey, then Mrs. Mitchell should be along very shortly."

"And here she is, right on cue." Mac nodded out the window.

Veronica turned to look. Maria Mitchell, a tall, striking woman with dark hair and caramel colored skin, was walking across the courtyard. Mrs. Mitchell's high heels tapped against the cement steps as she climbed up to the second floor. Dressed in a conservative dark suit, she looked more like she was headed for a business meeting than a tryst. She looked neither left nor right and her face was mostly concealed behind large, dark glasses and her thick, shoulder-length hair. She went up to room 204 and let herself in.

"So, now what do we do?" Mac asked.

"We wait," Veronica responded. "We need to get pictures of them together."

"Well," Mac said, "judging by that guy's body, I think he could probably go for a long time."

Veronica turned and pretended to look shocked. "Why Cindy McKenzie," she said, "I do believe you have a thing for that guy."

Mac snorted. "Veronica, you should wipe the drool off your own chin before you accuse me of that."

Veronica actually raised her hand to her chin before she stopped herself.

Mac grinned at her. "Gotcha."

ooo

Mac drummed her fingers against the dashboard. "Is all surveillance work this boring?" she asked.

Veronica adjusted her camera. "Pretty much," she agreed. "Hours and hours of sitting around waiting for that one second when you can get the money shot."

"And how long have we been waiting?" Mac asked.

"Over an hour." Veronica looked at her watch. "Man, that guy must be the Energizer bunny." She went back to fiddling with her camera.

Mac shook her arm. "Veronica, the door's opening," she hissed.

Veronica looked up and raised the camera. "Now all I need is a shot of them coming out together," she explained.

The door opened and Mrs. Mitchell stepped out. She looked back and waved into the room but the guy didn't come into view. Veronica snapped a few pictures of Mrs. Mitchell as she crossed the balcony and walked downstairs.

"Is that enough?" Mac asked. "Is it enough that you only have the picture of Mrs. Mitchell leaving the room?"

"No," Veronica said as she put down the camera. "We have to show that we know that she was in that room with that guy for nearly an hour and a half."

"And he's still in the room," Mac pointed out.

Veronica bit her lower lip. "Okay, let's do this," she suggested. "I'm going to leave my camera with you. I want you to take pictures of him when he comes out. I'm going to follow Mrs. Mitchell and see where she goes."

"Okay," Mac agreed and took the camera.

Veronica got out of the car and closed the door very quietly. She stayed close to the parked cars, ready to duck out of sight if Mrs. Mitchell were to look back. But the older woman didn't look around. She walked with grace and confidence to the back of the building. Veronica followed Mrs. Mitchell into the back alley and then down to Neptune Memorial. She walked into the visitor's parking lot, got into a dark sedan and drove off.

Veronica went back to Mac and slipped into the car. "Did you get pictures of the guy?"

Mac nodded slowly. "Yeah, I did." She turned to look at Veronica, her eyes wide with shock. "Veronica," she said urgently, "that guy, he's just a kid."

Veronica nodded cynically. "They seem to get younger and younger every year."

Mac shook her head. "No, Veronica, I mean he was just a kid. He couldn't have been older than thirteen or fourteen."

Veronica looked down and made of a production of putting her camera away. "The last time I had to take pictures of an older woman sleeping with a teenager, he was seventeen. Not that much older."

Mac shook her head in disgust. "Wow, I didn't realize 'robbing the cradle' was such a popular sport with the 09er crowd. Makes me glad I'm not one of them."

ooo

Veronica and Mac were sprawled across Mac's bed. Mac's fingers were flying over the keyboard of her laptop. Sarah was sitting on her own bed looking at the pictures that Veronica had printed.

"Wow," Sarah said. "This guy is built."

"That he is," Veronica agreed.

"What's his name?" Sarah asked.

Veronica shrugged. "I don't know. We have to find out more about him."

Veronica went over to Sarah's bed and looked at the pictures over Sarah's shoulder. "Sarah, how old do you think this guy is?" she asked.

Sarah studied the picture. "You know, at first I was so busy looking at his body that I didn't even look at his face," she commented.

Veronica shuddered. "We had the same reaction," she admitted. "I'm going to confession this week. How many _Hail Mary_'s do you think it will take to forgive that?"

Sarah nodded with sympathy then stared at the picture. "He looks really young," she decided. "I don't think he can be more than fourteen."

Veronica looked thoughtful. "If he is really that young then how did he get the hotel room? It's a nice hotel. They don't accept people walking up with cash. And they certainly wouldn't accept a fourteen-year-old boy paying for a hotel room with cash."

Mac finished keying in on her computer. "He didn't pay for the room," she agreed. "I just pulled up Mrs. Mitchell's credit card. The hotel room shows up on her personal credit card. She has a card that she's maintained for the past fifteen years that's in her maiden name alone. The bill is paid online and the statement only appears online. The mailing address is a post office box. My guess is that her husband doesn't know about this card."

Veronica sighed with frustration. "Well that's a dead-end. We know that Mrs. Mitchell is going into the room. What we need to do is identify the boy."

"How about checking out the fitness clubs?" Sarah suggested. "A guy with a body like that has to work out constantly to keep it looking that great."

Veronica and Mac exchanged glances then turned and grinned at her.

"Sarah, you're brilliant," Veronica said in delight. "Mac, how many health clubs are there in the area?"

Mac's fingers flew over the keyboard. "There's a whole list of them," she sighed. "In fact, six are less than a mile from campus."

"Well, let's think about this," Veronica said slowly. "The kid looks clean and well-dressed but he wasn't wearing designer anything. So that means that we can rule out the country club and most of the places where the 09er's hang out. I don't think Mrs. Mitchell would have sunk her claws a kid who was the son of a friend or social acquaintance, not when he's that young. Usually when older men or women prey on young kids, they look for someone who is alone and damaged."

Mac looked at Veronica with somber, haunted eyes. "Maybe someone with a single parent or parents and brothers who mock him and make him turn to anyone who will give him some attention," she added softly.

Veronica held her gaze. "Or someone with no parents or absent parents, who doesn't have anybody to protect him from that kind of abuse," she finished with quiet fury.

Mac's eyes widened with sudden understanding.

"Wow," Sarah commented, oblivious to Veronica and Mac's silent communication, "You guys sure do know how to get into the mind of a perverted leech, don't you?"

Mac abruptly turned her attention back to the screen and Veronica looked away.

"Okay," Mac said briskly, "if he doesn't go to all the fancy places and we look at just the clubs in the 02 neighborhoods, there are fifty of them."

"Are any of them within five miles of the motel?"

Mac keyed in some more information. "That narrows down our search to only ten clubs. But why only the places close to the motel?"

"I'm guessing that the boy lives nearby," Veronica explained. "It's a nice motel but it's not discreet or out of the way. There had to be a reason why they chose that place. If the boy is as young as we think he is then he's not driving. That means that he has to live somewhere near the motel."

Mac nodded. "Good thinking."

"Okay," Veronica said. "Let's go check out these health clubs."

ooo

Veronica looked out the side window and stared at the buildings as they drove by. The dull throb at the base of her skull was threatening to turn into a full-fledged headache. She sighed with discouragement and looked over at Toby. He glanced at her before turning back to watch the road in front of him.

"Tough day?" he asked sympathetically.

"Frustrating day," she corrected. "Mac and I went to every health club within five miles of the Sunrise Motel and nobody remembers seeing the boy working out there."

"Maybe he doesn't work out at a club," Toby suggested. "He could have equipment at home. A lot of people have their own home gyms and don't go to a heath club."

Veronica frowned thoughtfully. "My theory is that he's not a wealthy kid. I don't think he could afford to have the kind of equipment necessary to look that buff at home. You saw his picture. Can a person get that physique using average home equipment?"

Toby looked thoughtful, too. "No, I guess you're right," he concluded. "Home equipment is mostly for new users and casual training."

"So where do I look next?" Veronica mused out loud.

"How about looking at the YMCA or park district facilities?" Toby offered. "Back in my neighborhood, the Y was a safe zone."

"Safe zone?" she questioned.

"Yeah," he nodded, gaze still fixed on the traffic. "Anybody could go in to work out or play basketball, no matter where they lived in the 'hood. The only rules were no weapons, no gang colors and no trouble."

She turned fully in her seat to look at him. He looked relaxed and comfortable, dressed casually in jeans and a button down shirt that was open at the collar. He was far removed from his former world of gangs and violence.

"You know, I forget that you grew up on the mean streets of LA," she commented. "You fit in so well at Hearst and with working at city hall with my dad."

"And with you?" Toby turned to grin at her, his blue eyes sparkling against the contrast of golden skin and dark hair.

His words hung in the air between them. Veronica thought about them. Did he fit in with her? Toby was kind, intelligent, ambitious, and always took care of her. He'd fought his way out of a brutal childhood without resorting to drinking or sleeping around. He had left the shadows of his past and was creating a future that was filled with possibilities.

Did she want him to fit into her life?

Toby's grin faded and he looked concerned. Veronica smiled warmly and leaned as close as her seatbelt would allow. She placed a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek.

"Yes," she confirmed. "You fit perfectly with me, too."

Toby's grin grew sunny again. Veronica's cell phone chirped and she gave him another quick kiss before reaching into her messenger bag. She glanced at the caller ID before bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Cliffy," she greeted.

"Veronica, any progress?" Cliff asked anxiously.

"Some, but not enough," she responded regretfully. "We got pictures of Mrs. Michelle and her playmate, but none of them together."

"I need those pictures soon. I don't think I can keep Cherry quiet for much longer," Cliff warned.

"I'll go back tomorrow," Veronica promised. "And we think we have a line on the boy."

"Boy?" Cliff repeated. "What boy?"

Veronica exhaled deeply. "We think the guy Mrs. Mitchell is seeing is only about fourteen."

"Shit," Cliff gasped. "It's worse than I thought. That's more than an affair, it's Mary Kay Laterno-style statuary rape."

"Yes, it is," Veronica agreed grimly.

"You have pictures of the boy?" Cliff confirmed. "Will you bring them to me? I'll try to identify the kid, too."

"Sure," Veronica agreed. "We're on our way home now. I'll be at your office in five minutes."

"Thanks, Veronica," Cliff said sincerely. "We've got to clean this up fast."

Veronica hung up with Cliff and turned to look at Toby with hopeful eyes. Toby looked back at her and nodded.

"You don't have to ask," he assured her. "Just direct me to Cliff's office."

Veronica gave him a misty smile. "You're the best boyfriend in the world. Did you know that?"

He turned his attention back to the road. "Just as long as _you_ know that, I'm happy."

ooo

"Jesus Christ on a crutch," Cliff muttered as he shuffled rapidly through the pictures of the mystery boy. "What the hell is she thinking?"

"That if she's horny and he's willing, then it doesn't matter that she's married or he's only a teenager," Veronica responded bitterly.

Cliff stopped shuffling and looked up at her. "Sounds like you've spent a lot of time thinking about this."

Veronica's mouth tightened. "Too much time," she admitted.

"You know, Veronica, sometimes people do stupid things, even self-destructive things, because they're coming from a really bad place and can't think straight," Cliff pointed out gently.

She stared at him in shock. "You-you're _excusing_ what Mrs. Mitchell is doing?" she sputtered.

Cliff shook his head. "Not Mrs. Mitchell," he corrected. "I'm excusing the boy. The teenage years are not really thinking years, Veronica."

Veronica looked down. "I'm not blaming the boy," she insisted.

She looked up at Cliff again. He was watching her with a sympathetic – and knowing – look. Too late, she remembered that Cliff had been Logan's lawyer and probably his only confidante. She stood up and hung her messenger bag on her shoulder.

"I have to go," she informed him. "Toby's waiting in the car."

Cliff got up from behind his desk and walked her to the door. "Thanks for dropping off the pictures. We need to wrap this case up as soon as we can. Things are going to get ugly."

She nodded soberly and put her hand on the doorknob. Before she could turn the knob, it turned under her fingers and the door popped open. Veronica gasped and stepped back quickly to avoid being hit by the heavy wooden door. She lost her footing and tumbled to the floor.

"Veronica," Logan cried as he slipped into the room.

Together, he and Cliff bent down to help her up. Veronica pushed Logan's hand away but accepted Cliff's. Logan stepped back but watched her anxiously.

"I'm really sorry," Logan apologized. "I didn't see you. Are you hurt?"

She shook off his concern. "I'm fine," she assured.

But she wasn't fine. The double head rush of falling and getting up too quickly made her so nauseous that she swayed. Logan caught her other arm and they guided her to the couch.

"Here, sit down," Logan urged.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I don't need to sit."

"I think you do," Logan disagreed. "Cliff, will you get her a glass of water, please?"

"Of course," Cliff agreed and turned back to his inner office.

Logan pushed lightly on her shoulders. Veronica sat down because she didn't have the energy to stay upright. The room was spinning and her lunch threatened to make a return appearance.

Logan crouched down beside her and pushed her hair back from her forehead. "You're pale and your skin's cold and clammy," he observed worriedly.

She shoved his hand away. "You sure know how to make a girl feel special, don't you, Logan?" she snapped.

Cliff came back with the glass of water. Veronica took the glass and held it both hands to try to hide her shaky grip. Logan stayed close, hand outstretched, ready to assist her if she needed it.

"Veronica, you really are pale," Cliff observed worriedly. "Do you want me to call your dad or your boyfriend?"

Veronica and Logan both flinched at the word 'boyfriend'. Cliff looked from one to the other shrewdly but kept his thoughts to himself.

The door opened again and Toby came into the room. He looked puzzled as he saw Veronica sitting wanly on the sofa with Cliff and Logan hovering anxiously over her.

"What happened?" Toby demanded.

Logan rose, his face tight with remorse, and turned to face Toby.

"I came in as she was going out and hit her with the door," Logan admitted.

Toby's face flushed with anger as he hurried to Veronica's side. He knelt down beside her, muscling Logan out of the way.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Toby asked gently as he repeated Logan's action of brushing her bangs off her forehead.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "And it wasn't Logan's fault."

"If you say so," Toby replied, clearly not believing her.

He took the glass from her and gave it to Cliff. Then he slid one hand under her knees and the other around her shoulders. Toby got up smoothly, taking Veronica's slight weight with ease. He turned for the door and glared at Logan.

"If I ask you to open the door again, do you think you can do it without hitting her this time?" Toby demanded.

Logan silently crossed the room and opened the door.

Veronica wrapped her arms around Toby's neck and buried her face in his shoulder. The nausea had begun to recede a bit but the nagging ache in the back of her skull had worsened to a full-on headache. She waved her hand weakly at Cliff as a good-bye. Cliff nodded back gravely and went to stand beside Logan as Toby carried her back to his car.

ooo

"It wasn't your fault," Cliff insisted once Toby and Veronica had disappeared from view.

"What?" Logan asked absently.

Logan was still staring at the spot where he had last seen Veronica being carried away in the arms of her solid, upstanding boyfriend. Cliff put his hand on Logan's shoulder and shook him – hard. Logan turned to look at him.

"I said, it wasn't your fault," Cliff repeated. "Veronica stepped back before the door opened. You didn't hurt her."

"Maybe not this time," Logan muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cliff demanded.

Logan shrugged and turned to go back into the office.

"You're falling in love with her again, aren't you?" Cliff observed, following him back into the office.

Logan stopped abruptly. "I never stopped loving her," he admitted.

"Then why did you leave her?" Cliff asked bluntly. "Do you have any idea how much you hurt her when you left?"

Logan kept his back to Cliff. "I was hurting her by staying. I was angry and scared and out of control. I couldn't get through a day without drinking and I was dragging her down. Mr. Mars told me -–," Logan stopped abruptly.

"Mr. Mars?" Cliff repeated. "What does Keith have to do with this?"

Logan sniffed and pulled his shirtsleeves down over his knuckles. "He made me see the cold, hard truth. That it was ruining Veronica's future to be with me. She has college and friends and goals. I have a drinking problem and a family history that is more fucked up than a soap opera. She deserves better than a guy like me."

"Logan, no father thinks any guy is good enough for his daughter," Cliff pointed out gently.

Logan didn't appear to have heard him.

"I thought if I left, it would make Veronica's life better," Logan confessed in a choked voice. "That she would have a normal life, a happy life, if she was without me. She deserves better than a shit-faced screw up."

Cliff stepped closer. "She deserves to have a guy who doesn't drink, who has a steady job, a couple of bucks stuffed under the mattress and some dreams. A guy who loves her so much that he's willing to do anything, no matter what it costs him, to make sure she's happy."

Logan sniffed again, harder this time. "Yeah," he agreed. "That's the guy she deserves."

Cliff put his hand lightly on Logan's shoulder. "Logan, you _are_ that guy."

ooo

ooo  
The knock on Mac's dorm room door made Veronica look up from the pictures she was studying.

"I'll get it," she called out. "It's probably Wallace."

She opened the door and it was indeed Wallace on the other side.

"Hey, Superfly," he greeted with a soft smile. "You call and I come running."

"Wallace, I'm glad you're here." Veronica took his arm and pulled him into the room.

"Your message sounded urgent," he said, worry pooling in his dark brown eyes. "Toby warned me that you had a tough night. Are you okay?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "As I told him a hundred times, I'm fine."

Wallace clearly wasn't convinced but he nodded and turned to Mac. "Hey."

"Hey," Mac greeted him in return.

The two exchanged quick smiles and Veronica relaxed. She was glad that her best friends had made up. It made her life a lot easier, too.

"So what's the progress with your case?" Wallace asked.

"How did you know I had a new case?" Veronica asked as she went back to Mac's desk.

"I already told you, Toby called me," he reminded her.

Veronica stopped. "Do you and Toby talk a lot?" she asked.

Wallace shrugged. "Sure. Being two of the three most important men in your life, we gotta synchronize, make sure our hand-offs are smooth, no fouls on the dribble."

"Wallace, I'm not a basketball game," Veronica pointed out.

Wallace gave her his most adorable grin. "No, but you're almost as important."

Veronica shook her head and Wallace dropped the light teasing.

"Seriously, what's up?" he asked.

Veronica handed him the pictures of Mrs. Mitchell and the mystery boy. "I need you to go to the Sunrise Motel and take pictures of these two going in and coming out of the same room."

Wallace took the pictures from her. "Do you want me to sneak up to the window and get a money shot?"

"No!" Mac and Veronica both cried out in unison.

Wallace looked from one to the other. "Okay, what am I missing?" he asked.

"Look at the pictures," Mac advised.

Wallace shuffled rapidly past the pictures of Mrs. Mitchell and stopped at the first picture of the mystery boy. "Oh, man," he whispered.

"There's no 'man' about him," Mac pointed out grimly.

"So I see," Wallace agreed. He looked up. "So what are you two going to be doing while I'm taking these hopefully PG-rated pictures?"

"Mac and I are going to check out some of the local gyms surrounding the hotel," Veronica explained.

"How about Mac and I go the gyms and you take the pictures?" he suggested. "That way you can sit in the car and rest."

Veronica gritted her teeth and reminded herself that Wallace was only trying to take care of her. "Because you're only free until two. Then you have class. Mrs. Mitchell is supposed to meet her little playmate at noon. It's going to take us a lot longer than that to check out all these gyms."

"Is that safe?" Wallace worried. "Some of those gyms could double as a stage for Fight Club."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "We're going in the middle of the afternoon. We'll be fine."

"Well, Weevil's got your back," Wallace mused slowly, "so it should be okay."

Veronica let out her breath in an annoyed huff. "Why don't we also call in the National Guard and make of parade of it?"

Wallace's face lit up. "Now _that's_ a good idea."

ooo

"I don't know about this place, Veronica," Mac said uneasily. "It's pretty rundown."

"We've been to every other gym, the park district and the YMCA," Veronica reminded her. "This is the last place to check out in this area."

"Do you really think a kid would hang out in a place like this?" Mac asked. "I'm surprised there isn't a skull and crossbones painted in blood on the door."

Veronica opened her door. "If he's got a relative who works out here, then yes, he'd be in a place like this."

She was about to get out of her car when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her messenger bag and looked at the caller ID. She sighed.

"Yes, Weevil?" she answered.

"You'd better not be thinking of getting out of that car," Weevil advised.

Veronica looked around and spotted his car parked half-way down the block. "We're checking out gyms. I have to go inside to do that."

"Not this one."

"Yes, this one," she insisted stubbornly.

"Veronica, your father would bury me – alive – in an unmarked grave if he found out I let you go in that dive," Weevil protested.

"It's good to know that you have such a healthy fear of a middle-aged man with twice your paunch and half your speed," she snapped sarcastically. "But I have a case to solve and I'm running out of time."

There was the sharp squeal of tires burning rubber and suddenly Weevil's car was next to Mac's. Weevil deliberately shut off the engine and got out of his car. He held his hand out to Veronica. She stared at it in surprise.

Weevil gave a long-suffering sigh. "I know I'm not going to change your mind, so I'm going with you."

Veronica took his hand and stepped out of the car with a self-satisfied smirk. She tilted her head at him. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Mac continued to look uneasy. "Should I wait out here?"

"No," Weevil responded. "You should go home. I'll take Veronica to the yard after this to pick up her car."

Veronica grinned in delight. "My car's fixed already?"

"Yeah, it was just a short," he confirmed.

"That sounds like a plan," Mac agreed, not bothering to hide her relief.

They watched until she drove out of sight. Then Veronica turned to Weevil.

"Let's hurry up and do this," she urged. "Wallace is meeting me at my apartment in an hour. He got the pictures I needed at lunch today."

Weevil shook his and smiled at her ruefully. "Damn girl, nothing slows you down, does it?"

"Nope," Veronica agreed proudly. "I don't stop until I get what I want."

Weevil nodded in agreement. "Scary but true."

ooo

"So are these pictures enough?" Veronica asked. She watched Cliff skim through the pile of photos Wallace had taken earlier that afternoon. "We weren't able to identify the boy though."

"Yeah, this'll do," Cliff agreed. "I'm going to take these over to Mrs. Mitchell right now."

"In person?" Veronica asked. "I thought you were going to send them to her anonymously."

"I was when I thought she was just having an affair," Cliff explained. "But what she's doing is worse than that. Statuary rape is a serious crime with serious jail time. We can't risk anybody else seeing these pictures." He looked up at her sharply. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just Mac, Wallace, Toby and Sarah," she assured.

"Are all these people trustworthy?" Cliff asked. "Will they keep their mouths shut?"

Veronica bristled. "Of course they will. I know this is a sensitive case. I don't have friends that can't be trusted."

"I wasn't disparaging your friends, Veronica," he assured. "I just have to know who knows. I need to keep a lid on this."

"There's nobody on my team who's not trustworthy," she snapped, not mollified. "Can you say the same?"

Cliff looked at her steadily. "This is about Logan, isn't it?"

Veronica sighed. "It isn't about anybody," she denied. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. We're both under a lot of pressure. We're trying to protect my dad."

"Do you have any idea how much he loves you?" Cliff asked quietly.

"My dad?" she asked, puzzled. "Sure, I do. My dad would do anything for me."

"Yes, he would," Cliff agreed, "but I'm not talking about Keith. I'm talking about Logan."

Veronica looked away. "I don't want to talk about Logan," she muttered.

Cliff shrugged. "Then don't talk, just listen. Logan is so in love with you that he's sick with it. He's willing to do anything for you, Veronica. He loves you that much."

"Sure, he loves me," she agreed bitterly. "He loved me as he walked out without a backwards glance. And I'm sure he loves me with every bottle he empties and every bimbo he screws."

"He left you because he thought it was the right thing to do," Cliff explained. "For the first time in his life, he listened to somebody else and put your needs before his own."

"What are you talking about?" Veronica snapped. "Who did he listen to?"

Cliff was quiet for a moment, as though judging the wisdom of telling her the truth.

"Cliff, tell me," Veronica ordered.

"Your dad," Cliff admitted. "Keith pointed out to Logan that his drinking and his anger were hurting you. He convinced Logan that if he really, truly loved you then the best way to show that love was to leave."

Veronica's mouth fell open. There was a strange clanging in the back of head and a white-hot rage filled her with its heat. It felt good. She had been so cold for so long, so controlled by icy fear that she couldn't remember being warm. She closed her mouth with a deliberate snap.

"Veronica, are you alright?" Cliff asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine," she assured him, but her voice sounded hollow to her own ears. "I have to get going now. Good luck with the pictures."

She moved carefully and with precision. She picked up her messenger bag and walked out of Cliff's office with calm, measured steps. She got into her car with the same deliberate control and drove to her father's office.

Beverly looked up when Veronica marched into her father's office.

"Hello, Veronica. How are you?" the secretary asked gently.

"Fine, thank you," Veronica responded, her voice still oddly hollow. "Is my father in?"

Beverly began to look concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Veronica insisted. "Is my dad in? Is he alone?"

Beverly nodded slowly. "Yes, he is."

"You might want to take a break now," Veronica advised softly. "I need to talk to my father privately."

Beverly's eyes widened slightly and nodded again. "Okay," she agreed and got up from her desk.

Veronica waited until the outer door shut behind her before she went into her father's office. Keith was at his desk, frowning down at the papers in front of him.

"I have a question to ask you," she announced without preamble.

Keith looked up from the papers and smiled. "Hi, honey. I didn't hear you come in." He got up from his desk and crossed the room to her.

Veronica remained stiff and silent.

Keith frowned again and studied her worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"Did you order Logan to leave me this summer?" Veronica asked in her hollow voice.

Keith also stiffened. "Logan and I talked," he admitted. "I pointed out how destructive his behavior was. I asked him if he thought it was right to make someone he really loved live with that kind of chaos. He thought about it and made a mature decision."

"You ordered him to leave me," Veronica accused, the hollowness in her voice now filling with rage. "You knew how I felt about him and you made him leave me."

"Logan chose to leave," Keith corrected. "And I respected him for doing it."

"Respect?" Veronica repeated, her voice rising. "You want to talk about respect? What kind of respect did you show for me and my decisions? It's my life. I'm the one who gets to choose who stays in it and who leaves, not you. What gives you the right to control my life?"

"I'm your father," Keith snapped. "That's what gives me the right. I brought you into this world. I gave you life. It's my responsibility to protect you. So when I see somebody hurting you and bringing you down, I'm not going stand idly by and let it happen."

"Hurting me?" Veronica repeated, her voice choked. "You didn't think it hurt me every night I cried after Logan left? You think it didn't hurt me all those days when I sat by the phone and waited for him to call? When I blamed myself for pushing him away or not taking care of him enough to keep him with me? Did you think that didn't hurt me?"

Keith's expression softened with sympathy. He reached for her but Veronica stepped out of his reach.

"Honey," he said gently. "I know you were hurt but wasn't it better that it happened while the relationship was still new rather than after you'd suffered with him for years?"

"I've already been with him for years," Veronica reminded him, her voice thick with unshed tears. "I've been with him since we were twelve years old. I've suffered with him since we were sixteen, since the day Lilly died. With all the changes in my life, Lilly's death, Mom deserting us, and Duncan running away, Logan was the only person I still had from that time."

"You still have me," Keith denied gently.

"But what good is that?" Veronica lashed out. "I can't trust you."

Keith stepped back at though he had been struck. "I love you, Veronica. Everything I do, I do to protect you."

She stumbled away from him, creating even more distance between them. "I don't believe you."

Keith's expression softened again and he stepped closer. "I know you're upset right now, but after you've had a chance to calm down, you'll see I only did what I thought was best for you."

Veronica sniffed back the threatening tears. "Logan would never have left me if you hadn't pushed him into it."

"Really?" Keith asked mildly. "It didn't take him long to get settled in Los Angeles, did it? I don't think it took him even a single night to find the closest bar with expensive liquor and cheap women."

Veronica's mouth dropped open. It felt like a sucker punch.

"Honey," Keith began again, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Veronica shrugged it off angrily and rushed out of his office. She stopped cold when she saw Toby sitting at Beverly's desk. He looked up at her, his face expressionless. He got up from the desk and silently left the office.

"Veronica," Keith called as he came to the doorway. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts to hear the truth."

She turned back to her father. "I don't want to talk to you right now," she snapped and rushed out after Toby.

She ran down the hall and caught up with him as he was walking out the front doors into the afternoon sunshine.

"Toby, wait," she called out.

Toby kept walking. "For what, Veronica?"

"To talk to me," she panted as she tried to keep up with his longer strides.

Abruptly, he stopped and turned to her. "Talk about what?" he demanded, "To talk about how you're still in love with your lush of an ex-boyfriend?"

"He's not a lush," Veronica denied quietly.

Toby snorted. "I kept thinking that I just needed to give you time." He laughed bitterly. "I thought if I just cared enough and didn't push you and let you see how well I take care if you, that eventually I'd mean more to you. But I guess not, huh?"

"Toby, you don't understand," Veronica finally said.

"Oh, I understand," he insisted. "I understand that you're in love with a guy who's only in love with himself. A guy who didn't wait a single day before he was moving on to that night's easy lay. A guy who didn't even show up after you were attacked until he knew the cameras were rolling."

Veronica sucked in her breath. "That's not true."

"If he'd really loved you, Veronica, _nothing_ would have made him leave," Toby continued ruthlessly. "He would have been like Wallace and spent the entire night wearing clothes soaked with your blood because he didn't want to leave your side. Or like your dad, who spent the night trying to keep the whole damn town together when he was falling apart himself. Or like me, who camped out at the front doors of the hospital, trying to give the jackals of the press enough sound bites so that none of them tried to sneak up to your room for an 'exclusive'. Instead he waited until the media had set up their satellite feeds and his _concerned_ image could be projected all over the west coast. Yeah, he must have gotten a lot of action after that photo op."

"That's not true," Veronica denied again. "Logan came as soon as he got the news."

"Not so, Veronica," Toby corrected. "The news was already out. I know. I was the one who was helping Judy put out the press releases."

Veronica could only stare at him. Toby shook his head.

"Fine," he said. "If he's what you want, then go for it. But don't come crying to me the morning you find him ripped out of his skull and with no idea where the slut in his bed came from."

He stopped as the color drained from Veronica's face. He shook his head again at her dazed and stark expression.

Toby laughed without humor. "So he's already pulled that one on you, huh? And this is the guy you think is such a prize."

"Toby…" Veronica began.

"I don't want to hear it," Toby interrupted.

Then he walked away.

ooo

Veronica watched numbly as the incoming tide lapped closer and closer to her spot on the beach. She had driven around for hours, trying to make sense of all the emotions bubbling inside her. For a while, the rage had kept her warm but now it was gone, sucked back into the numbness that was her constant companion.

She had been on the verge of crying as she stormed out of her father's office but now the tears wouldn't flow. The pains, the confusion, the fears that she kept bottled up inside her were boiling up now, like steam caught up in a boiler. But she couldn't find the valve to release it.

She had worked so hard to be strong, to show everyone that she could survive, that she had lost her ability to cry. Maybe, after all the pain in her life, she was all cried out. After Lilly died and her life had fallen apart, she'd wept until her pillow was soaked. When Duncan left with his daughter, she'd cried into the wind but had been comforted to know that baby Lilly was safe. When Logan left this summer, she'd shed tears and angrily wiped them away, believing he didn't deserve her pain.

No, the only time she had really, truly broken open was the night she thought Beaver had killed her father. That had nearly crushed her. If Logan hadn't been there to get her through the night, to keep her together until she could hug her father the next morning, she might not have made it through. Her father was her touchstone, the only steady ballast in her life.

And he had let her down.

But it was something she'd learned a long time ago. People let you down. Mothers left, boyfriends had babies with other girls or preferred to drink themselves into oblivion and fathers lied. There was no one who would ever truly stand by your side and always hold you up.

The sand crunched behind her and she wiped around, ready to face this new threat. It was pitch dark and there was only a sliver of moon to light the night sky. She had her taser in hand and it was fully charged. Ever since the night of her assault, she kept it close by. She was ready for whatever – or whoever – was coming at her now.

It was Wallace.

She disarmed the taser and put it away. Wallace continued down the beach and dropped down lightly at her side. His dark skin hid his features in the faint light but the love and concern that he always had for her shone clearly. He slid his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side.

"What happened?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?" she countered.

"Your dad called me," Wallace explained. "He said you two had a fight and you weren't answering your phone. Weevil lost you as you were driving around, Toby's MIA and your dad's freaking out. Mac traced your cell and here I am."

"Good detective work," she complemented him.

He pulled her closer. "I'm learning from the best."

She put her head down on his shoulder. Maybe she was wrong, maybe there was still one person who didn't let her down, who was always on her side.

"Logan left because my dad told him to," she said quietly.

Wallace laid his head on top of hers. "What do you mean?"

"I found out today that Logan left this summer because my father convinced him that it was the best thing for me. That Logan was ruining my future."

Wallace was quiet.

"Well?" Veronica demanded. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"You don't want to hear what I have to say, Veronica."

She pulled away from him. "You agree with my dad," she accused. "You also think Logan was ruining my life."

"Do you remember what he was like last summer, Veronica?" Wallace asked. "When he hung out with Dick Casablancas and ended up blinding drunk every night?"

"He's not like that anymore," she defended.

"No, he's not," Wallace agreed. "But this is now, that was then. You're dad was trying to protect you from what Logan was like then."

"It wasn't my dad's choice, it was mine," Veronica insisted.

"Actually, it was Logan's," Wallace stated quietly.

"What does that mean?" she demanded.

Wallace shrugged. "Logan's a stubborn guy. If he wanted to stay, he would have. And when he left, he didn't change at all, did he?"

"Are you saying that he wanted to leave and just needed an excuse?" she demanded.

"I'm saying he wasn't ever going to straighten out his life until something knocked him upside the head," Wallace clarified. "Being with you didn't do it and being away from you didn't do it either."

Veronica looked down. "Maybe he's so used to being knocked around by life that he's numb to it."

"Maybe," Wallace agreed.

She continued to look down. "But he's clean and sober now, and he's even got a steady job. He—he said he did it for me. Do you think he means it?"

"Don't do this to yourself, Veronica," Wallace pleaded. "Logan's problems aren't over and you've got your own life. You've got school and your friends, hell, you've even got a boyfriend who worships the ground you walk on. Speaking of Toby, how do you think he's going to react to Logan?"

"He already has. Toby thinks Logan is a shallow and exploitative media whore." She bit her lower lip. "That Logan only came back after I was attacked for the media exposure. He said the press coverage was helping Logan score."

Wallace stroked her back comfortingly. "Logan's not a media whore. He hates the press and, other than that first day, there's been no coverage about him. And he's never had trouble scoring."

Veronica flinched and Wallace stopped stroking.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "You didn't need to hear that."

"It's okay," she insisted. "When I went to talk to my dad, I was so angry. I felt so betrayed and I…I…" she stopped and drew a ragged breath.

Wallace hugged her to his side and waited patiently.

She drew in another deep breath. "I can't believe he would hurt me like that."

"Veronica, he was trying to protect you," Wallace disagreed gently. "You're father loves you more than anything else in the world. The night you were attacked, I was as worried for him as I was for you. He only kept it together because he had to. But to see him watching over you, watching you struggle to come back --," Wallace choked up and stopped speaking.

"It was like watching somebody dying before your eyes," Veronica finished quietly.

"Yeah," Wallace agreed. "How did you…?"

"I've been through it before," she reminded him. "I felt the same thing when they loaded my dad in the ambulance after Aaron attacked him."

Wallace nodded then paused. "Veronica, do you really think the man who walked through fire to save you would ever do anything to hurt you?"

Veronica stared at him.

Wallace shook his head. "Parents aren't infallible. My mom hid my father from me for eighteen years because she thought he would hurt me. Your dad told your drunk, angry boyfriend to get his shit together or get the hell out. Both times, our parents were trying to protect us from getting hurt."

Veronica remained silent.

"That's what parents do, Veronica," Wallace continued. "They warn us to stay away from the hot stove then they bandage our fingers when we burn ourselves anyway. It's their job."

"My dad was wrong," Veronica insisted, but there was no more anger in her voice.

"Your dad's human," Wallace corrected. "And he's a good man. The kind of man who roused a bum tenant because he knew your best friend was worried. The kind of man of has the integrity to continue to pursue a teenage girl's killer even after the whole town turned against him because he believed she deserved justice. The kind of man who put aside the past to help that same town pull together after a perverted county commissioner nearly ripped it apart. That's who your father is."

She swallowed heavily. "So you think I'm wrong for being angry."

"No, I think you're justified for being angry," Wallace insisted. "But I think you should be honest about who you're really mad at."

"What do you mean?"

Wallace hugged her tightly. "Be honest, Veronica. Are you mad at your dad for telling Logan to leave? Or are you mad at Logan for leaving?"

ooo

Veronica opened the door to her apartment and Backup came to greet them. Wallace bent down to pet the pit bull as Veronica put away her cell phone.

"Weird," she said.

Wallace looked up. "What's weird?"

"I just called my dad's cell but it went into voice mail," Veronica explained.

"We'd already called him to tell him you're okay so maybe he's dealing with some kind of work crisis?" Wallace suggested.

"Maybe" she agreed.

Her phone chirped and she pulled it out again. She frowned down at the text message.

"Your dad?" Wallace asked.

"No, Cliff. He said to turn on channel eight."

Wallace crossed the small living room and picked up the television remote. He began to flip through the channels. He stopped at a press conference already in progress.

"It's Mrs. Mitchell," he announced.

Veronica hurried across the room and fell onto the sofa beside him. "Turn up the volume," she urged.

Maria Mitchell was standing at a makeshift podium beside a handsome, fair-haired man. Behind her stood a group of somber looking professionals, Keith Mars, Cliff MacCormack and…

Veronica gasped. "That's the mystery boy."

"Shh," Wallace hissed and turned up the volume.

"…I thought I was doing the best thing," Mrs. Mitchell was saying, her mouth quivering as she fought to hold back tears. "I was trying to protect my family. I was afraid of what the truth might do to my husband or to his career. I never meant to lie to anyone but I had to protect my…my…"

Mrs. Mitchell burst into tears. The man beside her turned her into his arms and she buried her face in his shoulder. The mystery boy stared at Mrs. Mitchell in blank confusion then tentatively touched her arm. Mrs. Mitchell pulled away from the man and pulled the teenager into her arms, weeping harder. The boy held his arms out to his sides, looking baffled.

"What the hell?" Wallace demanded. "What is wrong with that woman? She's hugging her under-aged lover on prime-time TV? And what is your dad doing on the podium with her?"

Veronica shook her head in confusion just as Keith stepped up to the microphone. He shifted so that Mrs. Mitchell was blocked behind his body. The fair-haired man stepped up beside Keith, further obscuring the sobbing woman.

"Obviously this is an emotional time for Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell," Keith began. "Mrs. Mitchell has kept a very personal and difficult secret. She did so believing that she was protecting her family. But today she decided its time to tell the world the truth."

The assembled press began shouting out questions and flashbulbs began popping. Keith held up his hand and waited for the din to subside before he continued.

"Fourteen years ago, at the age of sixteen, Maria Rodriguez gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Her son was a source of joy in otherwise difficult life. But when he was three years old, David was diagnosed with autism. Maria was nineteen years old, had no money and a child who needed specialized care. So she made what she felt was the best decision for her son."

Mrs. Mitchell had regained control of herself and came up to the podium. Keith stepped back and allowed her access to the microphone. Mr. Mitchell put his arm around his wife and stood tall and straight at her side.

"I put my son a specialized home where he could be properly cared for," Mrs. Mitchell explained in a quivering voice. "I worked days as a maid and nights as a switchboard operator at a Los Angeles hotel to pay for my son's care. Eventually, I worked my way up to a front desk clerk and there I met the most amazing man in the world."

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. John Mitchell smiled at her encouragingly and hugged her to his side. She took a deep breath and turned back to the microphone.

"I was so afraid I'd lose John if he knew the truth. So I kept my son a secret from him. And every day that I hid the truth it got harder and harder," she explained. "Then John went into politics. I knew that living under that kind of microscope would be disruptive to David's stability. So I had to keep hiding the truth to protect my family."

"Mrs. Mitchell, where does you son live?" a reporter called out.

"My son lives at the Autism Care Home on the campus of Neptune Memorial Hospital," she responded. "But now that he's getting older, he likes to get out more. I've been keeping a room at the Sunrise Motel where we meet every afternoon. He likes feeling independent."

"Why did you decide to come forward with your story?" another reporter asked.

John Mitchell leaned into the microphone. "Because real love is honest. I knew that something was hurting Maria but I didn't do anything about it because _I_ was afraid to lose _her_. That was wrong of me. As soon as I knew that something was causing her pain, I should have dealt with it right away. I love my wife and I am very proud of my stepson's progress. We have nothing to hide."

"Can we talk to David?" someone shouted.

Mr. Mitchell looked at his wife and she nodded hesitantly. She reached back and drew David forward. The boy blinked, looking dazed by the cameras and the press. Then he smiled; the open, innocent smile of a young child. Mrs. Mitchell whispered in his ear and David leaned close to the microphone.

"I love my mom," David announced in a heavy, halting voice. "We eat lunch together everyday and look at pictures of my sisters. They're eight and six," he finished proudly.

Mrs. Mitchell put her hand to her mouth. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks but she beamed with pride. Mr. Mitchell looked like he was about to cry, too. Keith put his hand on David's shoulder and guided him away from the podium as a man in a lab coat stepped forward.

Wallace turned off the TV and looked at Veronica. They both looked shocked.

"David's her son, not her lover," Wallace confirmed.

Veronica nodded, still dazed.

"You were right about him living close to the Sunrise Motel," Wallace pointed out.

"But I was wrong about him working out at a local gym," she reminded him. "They must have an exercise facility at the care home. But why is he so buff?"

"I read about autism in my psychology class. Routine is really important for people who suffer from the condition," Wallace explained. "Exercise, especially weight training, is rhythmic and easy to repeat. I bet it gave him stability."

Veronica nodded. "I can't believe his mother kept him a secret all these years."

Wallace shrugged. "She thought she was doing the right thing and protecting him."

Veronica was quiet for a long moment. "Parents make mistakes, don't they?"

Wallace nodded and swung his arm around her shoulders. "But they do it out of love."

Veronica considered then nodded. She laid her head down on Wallace's shoulder. "I guess they do," she agreed softly.

ooo

Veronica was sitting in the living room, watching the replay of the Mitchell press conference, when Keith finally came home. He looked tired but satisfied. He gave her a tentative smile. She lowered the volume on the television.

"I wasn't sure if you had time for dinner," she said quietly. "So I made you a sandwich."

Keith went to the kitchen counter and picked up the plate. "Thank you, honey."

She nodded to the news program. "So, what's going to happen to them?"

Keith came to sit beside her on the sofa. "I don't know," he said. "But I'm sure they're going to deal with it together."

She thought about it then leaned into her father. "That's good."

Keith was still for a moment then he put his arm around her shoulder. She continued to watch the screen as he ate the sandwich with his free hand. Gradually her eyelids became heavy. Keith nudged her shoulder lightly.

"You should go to bed, honey," he suggested.

A shudder rippled through her. "No," she said, sharper than she had intended. She softened her voice. "I just want to stay here for a little while longer."

Keith put the plate down then shifted to put both arms around his daughter. "Sure, honey," he agreed.

Veronica snuggled into her father's arms and, for the first time in a very long time, she felt safe and warm. Keith laid his cheek on her golden head and, finally, Veronica slept.

ooo

TBC...

I will be back in a few minutes with chapters eight and nine. The final chapter has also been written, and am just waiting to get it back from my beta! Hopefully I'll be able to post it in the next couple of days. Feedback is incredibly appreciated!


	8. Want To Believe

This chapter was written by moire2.

ooo

The dull florescent glow of the overhead lights made her eyes ache. Squirming, she tried to find a comfortable position, but it was no use. With a tilt of the head, Veronica craned her neck until she heard a small popping noise and let out a groan of relief before bowing over the old, oak table and the sheaf of notes she was trying to memorize. College life was a bitch when it came to neck pain.

"There's something going on with Matt." At the hysterical note in Mac's whispered admission, Veronica looked up, startled to find her friend no longer studying. As she looked closer, Veronica held back a sigh as she noted the worry flashing across Mac's features. She was tired – bone tired – and not in the mood to play detective this week.

Instead of admitting this, she plastered on a concerned look and asked, "What's going on?"

Mac frowned, and looked around the library as if she was worried someone might over hear their conversation. Turning to Veronica, she narrowed her eyes and got down to business.

"He wears a Cartier watch that costs over five-grand, takes me out to expensive dinners and is somehow paying for school, all while working part time for a mechanic. It makes me wonder where he might be getting his money from."

Veronica sat up straight, impressed at Mac's observations. She was right, there was no way Matt could pay for Hearst and take Mac out on the town like he did on a mechanic's salary. Veronica shook her head, wondering why she missed the obvious signs. Various disreputable ways to make that kind of money filtered through her imagination as she grabbed Mac's hand and gave it a squeeze. After Mac's last relationship, Veronica didn't blame her for being concerned. She didn't blame her one bit.

"So, maybe we should do some recon on your boyfriend?" 

Mac gave Veronica a watery smile. "Maybe we should." 

ooo

The sun hung low in the sky, filtering in through the murky windows that hadn't been washed from the outside in, well, ever. Still, the gold tinged sunlight was welcome in the drab office, and he squinted as one of the files slid from the top of the stack to hang precariously on the edge of the desk. The desk wobbled as Logan put his weight on it, reaching to grab the file before it slid off the desk and spilled to the floor. He pulled back, paperwork in hand, and thumbed through it looking for dates and names before deciding where it should be stored.

Humming along to his iPod, Logan sifted through the stacks of papers, alphabetizing them by the last name of the perpetrator. Lately, he'd been listening to 90's grunge as he organized Cliff's old files and boxed them up for storage. The filing system, or lack thereof, had become an issue for the intrepid defense attorney and he'd been hired 'temporarily' to sort it out. Logan hated and loved the brainlessness of it. Aligning names and dates of cases into some sort of order gave him something positive to do with his hands as he whiled away the days trying to think of his life purpose. After all, there was only so much time he could spend playing Grand Theft Auto with Dick before he started wanting to drink again. Logan shuddered at the thought, and turned up the music.

The name 'Fitzpatrick' seemed to come up quite a bit, he noted as he made his way through the stack. His mind was blank as he worked, losing track of time until his phone began vibrating in his pocket. His eyes caught the hour on the clock as he flipped the phone open, noting the familiar number on the digital display.

"Weevs," he barked shortly, "I'm late."

"No shit, now get your ass down here."

Logan smirked. "Your fascination with my ass is understandable, but disturbing."

"She's at the library with Mac, and fuck you."

The line went dead and he pocketed his phone before standing to stretch. He slid the last file into the banker's box and grabbed the keys from his desk. Rattling the door before he left, he made sure it was locked and ambled down the dark, dingy stairs to the first floor. He pushed open the door, taking a deep breath of fresh air and crossed the quiet city street to his vehicle, clambering inside.

It took less than fifteen minutes for him to get across town to the college campus. At a little after eight, he stepped through the glass library doors and spotted Weevil sitting on one of the many, old couches that littered the sunken reading area on the first floor of the library. Bright, red flags hung along the stairs going to the second floor balcony with different authors' names printed in bold, white lettering. He smirked quietly, thinking of English lit classes and wondered if this was something he should be doing. Glancing around, he tried to imagine himself bent over a book intent on studies. He shook off the thought as Weevil caught his eye and waved him over. Logan nodded a quiet hello before sinking into the beige cushions next to his sometimes enemy and current partner in the stalking/protection of Veronica Mars.

"You can see the elevators and the stairs from here. She was on the second floor in the reference section last I looked and seems to be in a bad mood. Bitch threw a dictionary at me."

A broad grin crossed Logan's face. "Bet it wasn't an abridged edition either."

Weevil shook his head. "I'm trying to let you know our girl seems a little moody tonight. Don't know why; it isn't her time of the month, is it?"

Logan shrugged. "How the hell should I know?"

"You're on that girl like white on rice. You know every last thing about her, except how to get her back."

Logan struggled not to take the bait, glancing toward the stairs as a group of co-eds descended and walked past. It wasn't beyond Veronica to try to blend into a group and sneak by, leading them on a merry chase until one of them caught up with her again. 

"What would you do to get her back?" He asked the question before he could stop himself, and he flinched at Weevil's look of surprise.

Leaning his chin on his fist – in mock concentration – Weevil acted as if he was pondering the question for a moment. The usual gleam of mischief was absent from his eyes, though, when he leaned forward and said seriously, "I'd be there for her no questions asked until she realized I was for real." 

Weevil's dark, brown eyes narrowed as he looked Logan over. "You _are_ for real this time, right?" Logan nodded and his 'friend' seemed to take him at his word and he stood. "Well, then, that's all you can do." The look of impudence was back as he said with a sneer, "Must kill you, though, wondering if Toby's tapping that fine ass of hers."

Logan leaned back into his chair, trying to resist the sudden urge to strangle him.

"Oh, yeah. It's killing you."

Logan didn't say a thing as he watched Weevil exit the building. There was nothing he could say. 

ooo

It was totally un-cool to stay till they closed the library, which is probably why Mac had left hours ago, but worth it. Logan's eyes were closed, as he slouched against the arm of the couch he was sitting on. She'd had quite a hard time losing him, but since Logan had been working for Cliff, he'd been a lot sleepier. She was counting on that as she snuck down the wide staircase of the library, shoes in hand. She crept soundlessly across the tile floor in stocking feet, taking one last look over her shoulder at Logan asleep on the couch. Satisfied, she high-tailed it out the entrance and sat on the steps to put on her shoes. She'd just started tying the left one when a deep, sexy voice asked from behind her, "Need some help?"

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Not really, _John Hinckley_."

He sauntered down the steps crouching in front of her and grabbed her right foot, taking her off guard. His thumb traced the arch of her instep and she let out a moan as he kneaded her sole, his fingers finding a spot that made her melt. He looked up, eyes filled with heat as she groaned in pleasure.

She felt suddenly exposed and tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he gently held on, grabbing her shoe and slipping it on her foot before softly dropping it to the step. He rose as if on strings, and held his hand out to her. Veronica studied his hand as he quietly waited for her response. She glanced up, catching the hopeful vulnerability etched across his face. He seemed so open, so honest, she didn't even realize she'd taken his hand until she was standing inches away from him. Chest to chest. Face to face. Less than a foot between his lips and hers. His eyes looked impossibly black as he reached out and traced the curve of her cheek. She shivered at his touch, longing to fall into his arms, but the thought of him leaving again froze her.

Veronica stepped away, suddenly choking back a noise of pain. His forehead wrinkled in concern, and he stepped forward reaching out to her. "Veronica?"

His voice had a question in it, a question she wasn't ready to answer. She stepped around him and fled down the stairs knowing that – despite this – he'd follow her home.

Somehow, knowing that he was behind her made the knot in her throat loosen a bit.

ooo

The mechanical, clicking noise of the garage door sliding open jerked Veronica awake. She shook her head, reaching for her coffee, as she watched a guy about her father's age wearing greasy overalls jingle his keys as he walked up to a Mercedes SLK 55 convertible. He slid inside the car and put it in reverse, backing it into the garage. 

Veronica stepped out of her car and plastered on a smile as she followed the man inside. He was just getting out of when she walked in.

"Excuse, me, is Matty here?"

The man crooked an eye brow at her, "Matty?"

"Yeah, he said he'd look at my car, but I had to schedule it so I thought I'd drop by and see if he could fit me in."

The mechanic smiled slowly, and gave her a toothy grin. "You must be Mac! No wonder Matt can't stop talking about you. Why don't you go on in the office; Georgia does all the scheduling. Let her know you're Matt's girl, and she'll get you in."

Veronica nodded, surprised at the affable manner and down home feel she was getting from the mechanic.

"Are you the owner?"

"Where're my manners? Yeah, I'm Bob Hanson, and this is my shop." He began to reach out to shake her hand, but noticed the dirt and grease staining his hands. "I'm sorry, I've been up and at it since six, and I'm kind of a mess."

Veronica grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. "A little dirt never hurt anyone." She smiled, this time for real. "I'll go talk to Georgia, and it was nice to meet you."

"You too, Mac. Matt is one lucky fella'."

He smiled, and headed back to the car as Veronica walked into the office. A middle aged woman, brown hair held back in a pony tail, was on the phone as she walked in. She nodded at Veronica and held up a finger.

"Your brakes are fine, Mr. Adams. Yeah, the car is in good shape. You can pick it up any time."

Veronica tuned out the conversation and glanced around the office at the vending machine, wondering if sugar would wake her up.

"How can I help you?"

Veronica turned, smiling at the woman behind the counter. "I was wondering if I could schedule getting my oil changed. Matt said you could try and fit me in…"

The woman nodded. "Matt has an open slot next Monday around 3:00 p.m. It'll take about a half hour, is that all right?"

Veronica nodded, convinced that Matt worked as a mechanic, but still wondering how to find out how Matt afforded his lifestyle.

"Matt is such a sweet kid. I wasn't sure about Bob hiring him on, but the boy knows how to work."

Veronica paused, wondering what question to ask to get more information.

"He sure can… work."

The woman nodded, warming to her. "Most boys coming from a family like his, well, they're happy to drive daddy's BMW and skate through life. I've got to admire someone who is willing to work for a living despite their trust fund."

Veronica nodded in agreement suddenly aware of how Matt afforded his Cartier watch and expensive dinners out. "It does take discipline."

She paused, smiling a bit before heading to the door. "See you next Monday!"

She wondered, as she stepped outside, why Matt lied to Mac.

ooo

As he pushed the door open and stepped inside, a bell jingled. Smiling, he waved to the old timers at the counter as they sipped coffee and spread the latest town gossip. Neptune's blue collar sect was alive and, if not well, at least caffeinated at Martha's diner. Martha boasted the best hamburgers and lowest prices this side of the Rocky Mountains. Keith slid into the seat across from his friend and picked up a laminated menu to look at the specials. Wrinkling his forehead, Keith studied Cliff's almost serene expression.

"What can I get you, darlin'?"

Keith looked up into the honey-brown eyes of Martha herself. Her plump, pink lips were glossy as she snapped her gum, and Keith decided he might almost be attracted to her if she didn't have a dotted, tattooed line across her neck with instructions to "Cut Here" in a neat script above it. Between that, and the many piercings littering her face, he was sure their relationship would never be more than platonic.

"I'd like a cheeseburger and fries, Martha," Keith said with a wink and a smile. "And, make it snappy."

"I'll make it snappy, all right," she returned, fluttering her eyelashes and she slid her pen behind her ear and sashayed her way back behind the counter to place the order.

"I think you could get some if you'd just learn to sweet talk Martha, Mayor Mars."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Alliteration is not my friend and, although Martha is lovely, I don't think she is my type."

"Desperate times call for, well, you know how the saying goes."

Keith gave Cliff his best fake smile before his brow crinkled in curiosity. "And who has you in such a happy, relaxed state?"

Cliff smirked, "My relaxed state stems not from any interaction with the opposite sex." Folding his paper, he set it to the side, attention now fully on his friend. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Interest peaked, Keith leaned forward. "Now I have to know. Go, on. What's got you all aglow?"

"Logan Echolls."

"That… disturbs me on many levels."

"I hired him, and the kid's got magic fingers." At Keith's wincing expression, Cliff quickly added, "For filing. Christ, Keith, what goes on in that sick little mind of yours. His sponsor at AA recommended he get a job and a focus outside of, well, whatever it is he does during his free time."

"Logan Echolls is working for you?" Keith couldn't hide the disbelief in his voice as he questioned Cliff.

"The kid is a wonder. Has my files in order and can make a mean cup of coffee." Cliff leaned in and said in a confidential tone, "Logan is actually pretty bright."

Keith shrugged, "But can you trust him?"

Cliff's brow crinkled as he said in consternation, "The funny thing is; I can."

ooo

"He's rich."

Mac's eyebrows seemed to reach the sky as she stepped inside her dorm room. Sarah was sitting on her bunk, attention intent on her reading as Mac entered. Veronica was relaxing on Mac's bed, arms behind her head as she gave her friend a tight smile.

"Who's rich?"

"Matt – it's his big secret and how he affords the Cartier watch. He's a trust-fund baby. He's got more money than Midas and for some reason he chose to hide that from you by working part time for his father's mechanic."

Mac bit her lip as she stared at the floor. "Why would he do that?"

"I ran into him on campus and told him to come over to your dorm room tonight. If you want to confront him..." Veronica trailed off as Mac took a sharp breath and looked fearfully up. "I can stay if you want.

"No." Mac's chin rose as she took a deep breath. "I can handle this."

Veronica nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"I _can_ handle this."

ooo

"I'm going to marry her."

Wallace looked up from his text book with apprehension. His roommate's usually pale complexion was flushed pink, and his eyes were bright, almost feverish looking. Cocking his head to the side, Wallace tried to smile as he feigned interest.

"Yeah?"

"She's my soul-mate. We are destined to be together."

Glancing at the greasy hair and vacant eyes, Wallace wondered who, exactly, would be interested in his roommate. "What's your girl's name?"

The guy smiled, which creeped Wallace out. A lot.

"Courtney Love. I'm going to send her my hair as a token of my devotion." As he spoke, he pulled an electric razor from under his bed and plugged it in. Wallace face scrunched up in disgust as he watched greasy tufts fall to the floor.

He slammed his book shut, and stuffed into his messenger bag. "I've got to get out of here."

ooo

Glancing at her watch, Mac paced from one end of her room to the other. Turning, she looked into her mirror and pushed a hand through her hair. She tilted her head to the side, and studied her reflection. 

"You're a fool."

How many guys were going to con her into believing their bullshit? Maybe she wasn't a good judge of character. Matt and… _Him._ Cassidy had also duped her completely.

There was a knock at the door, and Mac turned. Taking a deep breath, she walked forward, reaching to slowly grasp the door knob. Before she turned it, she whispered, "You can do this."

She opened the door.

"Hey, hon."

Mac stood stiffly as Matt pulled her into a bear hug. Her boyfriend stepped away, glancing down at her in concern as he grabbed her hand. "You're cold." He paused, noticing her look of distaste and dropped her hand.

"What's wrong?"

Mac opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Honey?"

"You lied to me." It wasn't the most subtle way to start the conversation, but who cared? This way, she'd get straight to the point.

Matt took a step back, looking as if she had slapped him. "What?"

"You told me you were working your way through school and you were a _mechanic_ – you _lied_ to me."

Matt's shoulders slumped forward, "Mac, I am a mechanic." He held up his hands, showing off the calloused grease stains he couldn't quite get rid of. Her jaw set as she folded her arms in disapproval and he sheepishly admitted, "I just happen to be a mechanic with a trust fund."

"Why? Why would you lie to me? Make a fool out of me? I don't even know who you _are_!"

"Yes you do. You know me, Mac."

Matt reached out to her, but Mac flinched away from his touch. Slowly, he dropped his hand, shoving it in his pants pocket as he looked down at the floor. His voice was gruff, when he began talking. "You hate rich people. You went on about the 09'ers and how you couldn't stand them." As he trailed off, he looked across the room, unable to meet her eyes. "I really liked you. From the first time I saw you." His voice dropped, husky with emotion as he finished. "I wasn't going to let my family's money stand in the way."

Mac didn't reply, her eyes were glued to the floor as tears streamed down her cheeks. Matt glanced at her, and bit his lip when he saw she was crying.

"I never meant to hurt you. Hell, I got a job as a mechanic just so I'd be able to tell you the truth – that I had a job. I'm sorry."

Mac looked up from the floor. "I can't be with someone who'd lie to me."

ooo

"I swear to God, Vee, I'm going to wake up to that guy standing over me with a knife."

Taking a sip from her S'kist, Veronica nodded in agreement. "Your roommate rates high on the Jeffery Dahmer scale in my opinion."

"You're supposed to comfort me, here, not scare the hell out of me. Jeffery Dahmer. Geeze. That guy used to eat people. What the hell, Veronica?" 

She cringed at the obvious discomfort in Wallace's voice.

"I'm staying at home tonight. No way am I sleeping in the same room as that pasty-faced skin head." Wallace suddenly looked concerned, and leaned forward to ask, "You don't think he's a skin head, do you?"

Veronica sighed and reached out to grab Wallace's hand. "I think he is off his medication. I think he may be stalking Courtney Love, but I don't think he'll actually harm you unless you admit to wanting to be Frances Bean's step-daddy."

Wallace's posture relaxed, and he smiled a little. "Yeah? You think I'm safe?"

Veronica nodded. "I think you're safe."

As he leaned back in his chair, a look of confusion crossed his face. "Who is Frances Bean?"

Veronica ignored him, her eyes trained on the door. "Excuse me a minute." She got up, stepping around her friend as she made her way through the crowded bar toward her now ex-boyfriend.

Their eyes met, and Toby seemed to freeze. Shaking his head, Toby grimaced as he turned and spoke to Nick. Veronica watched while Nick noticed her, nodded and headed toward the bar. Toby stood still, waiting as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Veronica." He was the first to speak, but she could tell nothing from his expression. 

"Toby, we need to talk."

His jaw clenched as he glanced down at her. "There's nothing to talk about." He folded his arms across his chest, and she reached out, gently running her hand across his forearm before grabbing his hand.

"Please, I think there are things to say. Come over tonight. My dad's out of town, and I'd like to work this out."

Toby stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. His eyes darted over her before he warily squeezed her hand back. "I'll come over. Give me an hour, O.K.?"

Veronica nodded, a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. "I'll see you at eleven."

Toby leaned forward and kissed her lightly, "I _do_ miss you."

ooo

"I'm Logan Echolls, and I'm an alcoholic."

Wrapping his fingers around the corners of the lectern, he glanced down at the scarred wood before looking out into the crowd. There were about twenty people in the church basement sitting on chairs that appeared as if they were sized for toddlers. Most of the crowd held Styrofoam cups of coffee as they shifted in the tiny chairs trying to find a comfortable position.

"Hi, Logan," came the pat response, and he relaxed a little as he looked at their supportive gazes.

"It's been four months and six hours since my last drink." He glanced back down and a self deprecating smile crept across his face. "And, it's been rough."

He heard the crowd murmur, voicing support and comfort. Logan went on.

"I took my first drink when I was in grade school – stole it from my mother's liquor cabinet." Pausing, Logan thought of Lynn and glanced down at his hands clenching the lectern.

"I've done a lot of shitty things. I hurt my friends, I've hurt people I love, but I'm working on regaining their trust. I can't change how people feel about me. I deserve how they feel about me, but I can live this moment, this minute – each day – sober."

Logan let go of the podium, and stepped away. His sponsor handed him a coin before pulling Logan into a hug, an action that used to make him stiffen up now held comfort. Logan stepped back and held up the coin, looking at it in wonder.

"Four months," he whispered.

ooo

Veronica was curled into a ball on the sofa watching the television. Flickering from the T.V. set, light illuminated the room, wavering from soft to bright as she dully stared at the infomercial. Eleven thirty had come and gone two hours ago. Toby was a no show. She surfed through the channels, searching for something to take her mind off her ex-boyfriend's glaring absence and came upon a young Bill Murray with a proton pack strapped to his back as he fearfully stared at 'The Slimer'.

_"Come in, Ray."  
"Venkman? I saw it, I saw it, I saw it!!"  
"It's right here, Ray. It's… Looking at me."  
"Ugly little spud, isn't he?"  
"I think he can hear you, Ray."_

There was a knock at the door. Pushing mute, Veronica stood. With a sarcastic line on her lips, she opened the door. "Well, better late than…"

"Hey, Veronica."

"…Logan."

He shifted uncomfortably, "I take it you were expecting someone else?"

With a shrug, she automatically lied and stood back to let him in. "Not really."

Tentatively, he stepped inside, shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jeans as he watched her face for some sort of sign. She retreated to the couch, grabbed a pillow and made room, gesturing for him to sit.

"I saw the light was on, and thought I'd stop by."

She smirked. "Yeah, whatever. You're relieving Weevil and got bored sitting outside."

He shrugged. "Actually, I was driving around thinking of you. Weevs getting to go home early is a side benefit of my insomnia."

Logan paused, pulling his hand out of his pocket as he walked over to the couch and sat. He fiddled with a coin and it caught in the light of the television briefly as he handed it to her. Fingers brushing, Veronica shivered as he held her hand for a moment before pulling away, leaving the coin in her palm. Clutching the pillow tightly to her, she glanced at it curiously.

"What is this?"

"I've been sober for four months."

She put her hand out to give the coin back to him. "Congratulations, Logan. I'm happy for you."

He shook his head, and didn't take the proffered coin. "I want you to have it."

Eyes narrowing, she shoved it out, holding it insistently his way. "I can't take this Logan. I can't be the reason you don't drink."

His head jerked up as if someone had slapped him and he glared at her. "Is that what you think? Jesus, Veronica, I thought I was self-centered."

Her face flushed red as she threw it at his chest. "Go to hell."

He picked it up from where it had fallen on his lap and shook his head. "I don't drink because I want to have a life. I stay sober for me."

"Then what's up with the coin?"

He glanced at her, frustration twisting his features for a moment. "I'm giving you this because I want you to be part of my life. I hurt you in the past. I want you to know, I'm never going to hurt you like that again."

Veronica gulped hard, trying not to show the emotions that were eddying through her. "So, you'll think of new and different ways to hurt me?"

Ignoring her comment, Logan reached out and gently touched her cheek. "I'm here, Veronica, and I'll be here until you tell me definitively to stay away. I'm not leaving again, unless you don't want me around."

"I don't believe that." Her voice broke on and she tried to blink back the tears standing in her eyes. "I can't _let_ myself believe that."

He pulled her to him, pressing soft kisses to her forehead. "It's O.K. I believe enough for both of us."

She shivered in his arms, but didn't pull away as he leaned down and gently kissed her mouth. She kissed him back, hard, suckling at the swell of his bottom lip as tears slid down her cheeks. Her hands were suddenly on him, tracing the rich line of his shoulders with desperate urgency, as if she'd never get a chance to touch him again. Tracing the planes of his face, she murmured his name against his mouth, her breath a hot pant. They rolled together, shifting until she straddled him, groaning as his hands roved over her, tracing every inch of her flesh as if he was touching something amazing and precious. Fingers curling, his hands settled low on her waist, thumbs flicking over the bumps of her hipbones. He leaned forward, pressing feathery kisses to the hollow of her neck as she rocked against him.

"Veronica." The husky sound of his voice hinted at promises she didn't dare dream of when it came the two of them. It sounded like a plea, a vow… He sounded like love and she couldn't afford to believe in that – yet.

Her hands fumbled with the bottom of his shirt, pulling until it was over his head and she was stroking a firm expanse of chest. Silky skin and hard lines, Veronica traced the shape of him, watching him shudder as she leaned down pressing kisses to the rippling muscles of his stomach. Looking up, she caught his eyes as she popped open the top button of his jeans, shivering at the cool metallic grind as she pulled his zipper down.

His hands were like a vice around her wrists. He pulled her, moving until he was straddling her, pressing kisses to her as he undressed her, praising every inch of flesh offered up to his view. Hands slid down to cup her thighs as his mouth traveled lower. He was kneeling between her legs when he looked up, eyes glimmering with emotion.

His gaze never left her as he bowed his head, pressing his mouth to her center. The flat of his tongue lapped at her as he slid a finger, then two, inside her wet heat. Arching into his touch, she moaned for more.

She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his head up. Her voice was a smoky alto when she said, "I want you inside me."

Hard and consuming, his mouth pressed across hers. Swallowing his moans, she relished the satiny feel of his skin, moving in a smooth slide until the length of him was pressed to her center. He ate at her mouth as he thrust home, and she wrapped her legs around him with a thread-y mewl.

Whispering her name, he held her hands above her head as he drove into her. Rocking, aching-sweet inside she arched, searching for that grinding release as his hips rotated against her.

Pleasure coursed through her and Veronica's head flew back as she went rigid. Her body seemed to vibrate with bliss as he continued. Every nerve at attention, his motion drew out her orgasm. Gasping her name, Logan shuddered before collapsing above her.

For a moment, she felt something peaceful click deep inside her. When he looked at her, it felt as if he could see inside her soul. In fact, before Logan, Veronica wasn't aware she had one. Now, his dark stare bore into her, leaving no place to hide as he began to speak, "Veronica, I…" Before he could finish, she ran her hands through Logan's chestnut, tousled hair and pulled him into a kiss.

Deep down, she knew he loved her. Honestly, she never doubted it. She glanced up at him and – there was that look again. To Veronica, it seemed as if he was deciding whether to verbally dissect her, or fuck her brains out. She enjoyed it when he did both. As she turned in his arms, savoring how perfectly his body cradled hers, she was very afraid that loving him back would cost her.

TBC…


	9. Kinetic Motion

It's back to me – darlingvioletta777!

ooo

Veronica shifted slightly in Logan's arms, basking in the heat radiating from him. She breathed deeply, a smile flitting across her lips as she inhaled his distinctly-Logan scent. She felt secure in his strong arms, which gripped her tightly, his hand splayed across her lower back. Her hand was wrapped around his biceps. As she moved her fingertips a fraction of an inch across his cut abs, she opened her eyes. His face was relaxed in sleep; the cocky expression he used as a shield was gone. It occurred to her just how young he looked as she moved her hand up and traced it along his strong jaw line.

Veronica longed to press a kiss on his warm skin, but she didn't want to wake him up. She turned slightly, stretching out as much as she could without kicking him. She pushed away the brightly-coloured blanket that was wrapped tightly around them as they lay entwined in each other on her bed, and she took relief in the cool air that brushed across her skin. She turned to look at him as she smoothed her hair down with her fingers, glad he wasn't awake to see her crazy bed-head look.

She sighed as her eyes drifted shut again. She felt like they were both fractured glass, jagged and harsh – but put together they made something complete. Like an artist had carefully arranged the pieces into something that may have seemed strange to other people, but worked.

She'd never slept with Toby. He'd tried to instigate it a number of times, but picked up on her immense reservations and backed off. She'd never felt ready, always feeling the presence of Cassidy behind every touch, which she knew was vastly unfair to Toby. But there had just been this feeling of _rightness_ with Logan. She smiled briefly as she remembered the previous night. She'd never in her life felt such burning lust for someone as she had for Logan when he'd told her he would never leave her. His eyes were so sincere and something inside her had shifted as she'd listened to his words. She'd never felt like it before, not for Duncan and not for Toby. It was ridiculous really, they were both classically good looking guys, but there was just something about Logan. A presence, a spark... And it was the spark that had caused an explosion, almost feeling like it had taken control of her body and led her straight into Logan's open arms. 

Without warning, the memory of Logan standing in front of her in a red shirt burned brightly in her mind.

"No, I'm leaving. I'm leaving Neptune."

She frowned, turning to look at the ceiling as his words echoed around in her head.

"I can't do this anymore."

His words had almost destroyed her the previous summer. She was giving her all in the relationship, something she admitted she had never done before with Logan; always holding back in fear of getting burnt. Could she go through it all again? The searing pain she'd felt as her heart had been broken. Struggling to do something so simple as _breathe_. What if they were just too fragile for each other? Or maybe she was shattered beyond recognition and Logan wasn't strong enough to cope with it. If he hadn't changed – was he going to spiral out of control again? Veronica knew she couldn't do it again. She couldn't survive it all again.

It would be so easy. So easy to close her eyes, snuggle back into his arms and slip into the safety net of denial. She could go back to sleep, wake up and smile. They could cook breakfast and eat pancakes, entwined in each other.

When they were good together, they were _amazing_. They had so much passion and energy as a couple – fused together in as a couple. They had a depth and fury to their feelings like nothing else she'd ever experienced in her life. But that was exactly why she was so terrified. When things didn't work out, and those feelings were used against each other, it _hurt_. Logan held more power over her than anyone else in the world. He knew her weak points, her private painful moments that could possibly destroy her, and neither of them were ever afraid to go for the jugular.

They both had so many wounds. The Duncan-shaped wound that was his, the Kendall-shaped one that was hers. Others caused by false accusations, some by cruel barbs. All wounds they had inflicted on each other – intentionally and accidentally.

She had to be strong. There was no way the good times could be worth all the bad. She closed her eyes as she imagined his reaction. Hurt? Anger? It had to be better to end the whole thing before it even started, to save both of them the pain when it all ended later on down the line. She moved, as slowly as she could, but his eyes fluttered open and a tender smile appeared on his lips.

"Hey, babe," he murmured.

It was like she was a puppet on a string, unable to control her own actions as she leaned forward and kissed him gently on his soft lips. She pulled away, trying to ignore the pain tearing through her.

_It will be worse in the long run if it doesn't end now._

Veronica sighed determinedly, knowing what she had to do. She twisted in bed and reached for her clothes mingling with his on the floor.

"Where you going?" he yawned.

"I have to go, Logan," she said, pulling her clothes on.

Something in her voice caught his attention and he sat up. "Please don't."

"I have to," she said, praying her voice wouldn't catch. She was grateful when it remained strong. She turned and looked at him. "I can't be in a relationship with you."

"But…" he began.

"I'm not ready," she said softly. Her words rang harshly around the silent room as he looked intently at her. He took in a deep breath and opened his mouth to say something.

She couldn't listen. He had a way with words and she couldn't give in to anything that would weaken her resolve. "Please don't make this harder," she begged as she stood up, breaking eye contact with him finally. "I'm going to class. You can't be here when I get back."

She couldn't look at him as she fled out the door.

ooo

Veronica was relieved to spot an empty study room as she darted into the library. She hurried over and opened the door a split second before a girl arrived. Veronica shot her best _back off_ glare towards her, and felt a flicker of triumph as the girl pursed her lips and skittered away. She closed the door firmly behind her and dropped down in the seat. She buried her head in her hands as she gasped oxygen in desperately.

Veronica shook her head, trying desperately to clear the heavy darkness that felt like it was consuming her away. She pulled the files in her bag out, opened them up and spread the contents across the table. She laid the eight pictures she had out. The glossy faces of Stacy, Dawn, Anna and Fiona stared back at her. Fiona, Dawn and Stacy had long, dark glossy hair and Fiona had shorter spiked-up hair. All had happy smiles. In the four pictures taken after the attacks, they all had messily-shorn hair. Her stomach ached as she looked at the photos, the impetus she needed to keep the investigation up.

Veronica ran her finger over the nearest photo as she bit her lip. It was generally impossible to talk to every single person who'd been at a party. Some were only there for a few minutes, others arrived at different times. Each of the girls had given her a list of all the people they had seen on the nights of their rapes.

Veronica had sneaked into the Campus Admin office and quickly burnt a copy of the campus-housing database to a disk. She now had to search for each person on the list and get their address.

Distraction was key to survival.

ooo

"You've shaved your hair," Veronica remarked, as Weevil suddenly appeared next to her as she walked through campus. "Looks so much better."

"Glad I've got your approval. I was up all night worrying what you'd think of it," he replied dryly. "You busy?"

She shook her head. "I'm a free agent. Oh, the exhaustion of one class a day," she joked.

He let out a breath of air and she frowned, looking at him. He seemed agitated, not the usual Weevil that kept his emotions under tight wraps. "I need your help," he said finally.

She debated a witty reply, but realised it wasn't the best time for it and nodded for him to continue.

"I have a sister, Estrella. She's not like the rest of us Narvarros - scraping by to graduate - she's real smart, you know? She was going places, but she got pregnant in her last year of high school."

Veronica nodded, looking sympathetic. "That sucks."

"She got a scholarship this year, and started at Hearst. She leaves Ophelia in the childcare here." Veronica gave him a small smile, remembering the sweet little girl that had accompanied him on his criminal escapades. "I was looking after her the other day, and I noticed bruises on her arms."

"Oh, god," Veronica exclaimed.

"Yeah," he said, looking grim. "It had to be someone in the childcare. It's the only time she's not around her family." His expression darkened and he spat out, "Some fucked-up kid putting their goddamn hands on _my_ niece."

"I'm on it," Veronica said firmly. "Is it a student-run childcare?"

"No, but some students do work there."

"She hasn't mentioned any names then?" Veronica asked.

He shook his head. "She wouldn't answer when I asked her about it."

"Is she there every day?"

Weevil nodded.

"I'll do what I can," Veronica said, putting her hand on his arm briefly. "I'll let you know."

He nodded shortly. "Thanks, Veronica. It's appreciated."

ooo

Keith breezed into his office, a mug of coffee in his hand. He narrowed his eyes, surveying the blond that sat comfortably in front of his desk. He reached the other side and put the mug down with a gentle tap. The office smelt of leather and coffee, and felt like more home than his apartment or his office at the town hall ever did.

He'd been surprised to get a message from the boy in front of him when he got back from his business trip, asking for an appointment. He'd agreed – mainly out of curiosity.

He sat down in the leather chair and fixed Dick with a stare. The t-shirt he was wearing read 'I'm with stupid.' He glanced down, but the arrow that was usually prevalent on the popular t-shirt was missing. Keith bit back a grin.

"So what can I do for you, Mr Casablancas?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Dude, call me Dick. I'm not my dad."

"And you can call me Mr Mars, not dude," Keith responded evenly.

"You're good at this P.I. stuff, even though I know you're like Mayor now, but that Vinnie dude totally screwed over my dad's friend when he went to him – took the pictures to his wife and took double."

Keith nodded. "The Vinnie special."

"So you know Kendall?" Dick leered, showing exactly what he thought of his dead step-parent and Keith fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"I recall her, yes," he replied. 

"They ruled her death as suicide. Dad had an insurance policy on her, but being suicide…"

"No payout," Keith offered.

Dick nodded. "Kendall wouldn't have killed herself, not her style. I want you to prove she didn't pull a Kurt Cobain."  
"Are you sure you are the Designated Beneficiary? Doesn't the money fall to the spouse – your father?"  
Dick nodded. "He put in a… stipu-thingy…"

"Stipulation?"

"Yeah, if dad couldn't get the money – it would fall to me and the Beav." He looked away, looking awkward.

Keith sighed, seizing up the scruffy kid in front of him. "Don't you have a trust fund to live off?"

Dick shrugged. "Not gonna last forever."

"If I can prove she didn't kill herself, and you get the insurance payout – I want twenty percent." The key with rich people was to majorly overshoot, Keith knew. When they then agreed to a lower figure – it seemed they had haggled effectively, yet were still often paying more than he'd let someone on a normal wage get away with.

"Fifteen," Dick bargained.

"Done," Keith agreed.

ooo

Veronica trudged along the hallway towards class, her eyes cast on the ground as she moved. She felt a hand on her arm and her head snapped up, expecting brown eyes. Instead she got blue.

"I'm sorry about last night," Toby said quietly. "I couldn't make it."

Veronica gasped as she focused on the large bruise surrounding his eye. "Toby, what happened?" she asked in concern, reaching towards him.

He brushed her hand away and stepped back. "It's nothing. I'm just sorry, some stuff came up. Didn't mean to stand you up."

Veronica felt a flutter of guilt in the pit of her stomach. What if he had turned up and found her with Logan? She'd have proved him right – running straight into Logan's arms the second she could.

"You look like you had other things going on," Veronica said gently.

"You need to stay away from me," Toby said out of the blue.

"Um, okay…" Veronica said, frowning. He nodded and took off before she could say anything more. She stared after him in worry before she was jostled by a group coming out of class.

She turned and let herself out by the side door. She began the walk against the luscious green grass. It had just been cut, and the distinct scent breezed around her. She breathed deeply; the fragrance reminded her of summers spent climbing trees and building dens – back before Lilly found nail polish, fashion and boys a more interesting way to pass the time.

She spotted the person she was looking for, and quickened her steps. She shook her head, trying to clear it of thoughts of dead best friends, ex-boyfriends and whatever the hell Logan currently was. She plastered her best fake smile on, carefully honed with years of experience deluding her father she was _fine_.

"Hey, Sarah."

Veronica's neighbour turned around with a bright smile back. "Hello, Stranger! I've hardly seen you about the complex since you started college."

Veronica nodded. "Been busy," she said with a grimace. She waved at the pudgy little girl dressed in pale pink sitting at Sarah's feet. The girl gave her a toothy grin back. Looking at the sweet, pretty little girl, Veronica wondered if Sarah saw her step-father's face every time she looked into her daughter's innocent blue eyes. She swallowed heavily as her fingernails pushed into her palms. Surely the love a parent has for their child transcends all else, Veronica mused, until visions of Aaron, the Mannings, and even her own mother began to swim in her mind.

She looked down at Sarah who was busy putting the jacket her daughter had taken off back on, telling the girl it was cold out.

"So you really don't mind if I borrow Poppy?" Veronica asked, breaking her dark thoughts.

"No, not at all. As long as you promise to take good care of her; it will be a nice break!" Sarah laughed.

"I promise I will. I can drop her off back at home, if that works for you," Veronica offered.

"That would be great," Sarah replied, putting Poppy's small hand in Veronica's. "I'll see you later!"

Veronica looked down at the life that was now in her hands and swallowed even harder.

_Whose idea was this again? Oh, that's right, Veronica – yours. Idiot._

ooo

Veronica pushed the intercom button and waited.

"Can we help you?" a voice said from the electronic box.

"Hi there," Veronica replied. "I was wondering how long your wait list is for the facility, and if I could get a tour with my daughter here?"

"Someone will be with you in a second," the voice replied, before clicking off. Veronica glanced down at Poppy who was currently occupied with a sandwich bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish she'd given her.

Veronica reached up and smoothed down her dark wig. The nursery being on campus, she couldn't take the chance of being recognised. After the press coverage of the attack, and her father being mayor – her face was slightly more recognisable than she would have liked it to have been.

A perky blonde, with a swishy ponytail and perfectly manicured fingernails opened the door with a sunny smile. Veronica resisted the urge to gag.

"Thanks for waiting," she said, motioning for Veronica to go through. "We have this system for security purposes."

"Seems like a good idea. Stops the little ones from escaping," Veronica laughed.

"It's more to stop people getting _in_," the girl explained. "You just don't know what kind of people are out there. Even the ones that seem safe and harmless! Did you hear about the ex-mayor - Woody Goodman?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, I'm a local."

"Sorry, here I am babbling away. I'm Jessica," she introduced. "I'm a teacher here, and I'm in charge of Learning and Play. And who is this?" Jessica asked, kneeling down to get at eye level with Poppy.

"This is Poppy, my daughter. And I'm Liz."

"It's really nice to meet you both. You'd like a tour of the building?"

Veronica nodded. "That would be really good."

"Why don't we leave Poppy in our day care room?" She motioned towards a door covered in Winnie the Pooh murals. "The girls will take good care of her."

Veronica paused, hesitation written across her face. Jessica looked at her expectantly.

"She… has a behavioural disorder and hasn't taken her medication today," Veronica lied, glancing down at the child silently working her way through the orange, fish-crackers. It was just her luck to borrow a well-behaved child when she needed one who ran around screaming.

Jessica shot her a confused look. "Well, okay then. If you follow me I'll show you the jungle gym we just had installed outside, then we can look around the eating area."

Veronica and Poppy traipsed after her and as enthusiastically pointed out every little detail of the nursery.

"The children are separated into age groups, and they are all named after a different Winnie the Pooh character. Infants are the Roo's. Toddlers are Piglet's. Two year olds are Rabbit's, three year olds are Owl's and four and above are Tigger's."

Veronica nodded, glancing towards the room that had the Tigger on the door. Ophelia would be in that age group. Glancing through the window as they passed, she saw it was empty. Seeing Veronica looking, Jessica put in, "The college let's us use the west field at lunch time. We take the Owl's and Tigger's there, play games and let them burn off some energy. Although at that age, they never seem to run out."

Veronica smiled. "True. So you also have students working here?"

"Yes, we do. They are always supervised though – never left alone with the children without someone fully trained with them."

Veronica nodded as they stepped through into a pretty courtyard and Poppy immediately darted towards the jungle gym.

"All the kids love it," Jessica said.

The tour ended and Veronica promised to make a decision before the remaining places were snapped up. She hoped Jessica would leave her to make her own way out, but she had no such luck as she showed them to the door.

"I hope to see you soon," Jessica said to Poppy, waving manically before she clicked the door shut.

"Damn," Veronica exclaimed, then looked down at Poppy. "Please don't tell your mom I said that." Poppy stared back at her blankly with wide, innocent eyes. Veronica turned, and spotted a man walking towards the door, a baby carrier in his hand. A second before he arrived, she dropped her bag.

"I'm so clumsy today," she said as he bent down to help her.

"No problem," he said, handing her some of her stuff. She shoved her phone, lip-gloss and purse back into the bag, before she picked Poppy up.

The man picked the baby carrier back up with one hand, and punched the code into the electronic door security.

"Here," he said, holding the door open for her pass.

"Thanks," she smiled.

She waited until he disappeared into the Roo room, before she hurried down to the Tigger room, carefully glancing over her shoulder to see no one was in view. She darted in, closing the door behind her and placed Poppy on the floor. The room was colourful, with the usual themed Winnie the Pooh murals covering one of the walls, and children's artwork covering the others. Crayons were spread out in pots on the tables and piles of paper were neatly placed next to them. Veronica hurried across, grabbed a chair and swung it in front of a bookshelf. She quickly climbed up, pulling a small camera and bug out of her pocket. She placed them carefully – hidden but with a good view of the room.  
Clambering back down again, she picked up Poppy and made a stealthy exit out of the nursery.

ooo

"Thank you so much for letting me borrow her. She was the best behaved child I've ever met," Veronica praised, while standing outside Sarah's apartment above her own.

Sarah gave her a proud smile. "She really is, isn't she."

"I haven't seen André around lately," Veronica said, leaning back on the rail that protected people from falling.

Sarah's face fell. "No. We broke up. He usually comes back, but I don't know… it seems final this time. And I'm just not sure I'm upset about it."

Veronica gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Sarah. Maybe he's just not right for you, and there's someone else out there?"

"I hope I meet him soon," Sarah replied. "Not that there's anything wrong with being single, I just… I get lonely at nights, with no one to hold me – as lame as that sounds."

Veronica nodded slowly, as she bit down on her lip. "It doesn't sound lame," she assured quietly. "I've gotta go - I'll see you around sometime!"

ooo

Keith scowled reflexively seeing Vinnie's name etched on his office door. He pushed it open and stepped through. A lady that looked to be in her fifties looked up.

"Hello, Mrs Vanlowe," Keith said warmly.

"It's so nice to see you again, Mr Mars," she replied. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I just need a word with Vinnie – is he free?"

She nodded. "Go right ahead. He's on his lunch break, but he won't mind you stopping by." Keith tapped on the door to Vinnie's office before he stepped through.

"Keith! Welcome to my humble abode," Vinnie said with a mouthful of pizza. "Take a seat. What can I do for you? Want me to track down your wayward wife? See what you daughter gets up to with her boyfriend…"

"No," Keith said firmly. "I'm here about a case I sent your way. Mrs Kendall Casablancas."

"Yeah – the dear departed Mrs C. Such a shame."

"That's sort of what this is about. I know there's client confidentiality, but in light of what happened… I thought we could come to an understanding."

"Well, amigo, my knowledge is your knowledge… for a fee of course."

"Of course," Keith repeated. "Kendall came to see me. She wanted someone blackmailed."

Vinnie nodded solemnly. "I, of course, do not par-take in such illegal goings on. I turned her down and sent her on her merry way."

Just then, the door burst open and Mrs Vanlowe stood behind it looking flushed.

"I'm ever so sorry, don't mean to interrupt, but Vinnie, dear, they've towed your Trans-Am away."

Vinnie paled, standing up quickly. "Not my car," he murmured, grabbing his coat. "Could you see yourself out, Keith?"

Keith nodded as the both the Vanlowes closed the door and left him alone in the office. What kind of P.I. was he, not realising Keith had anything to do with his precious cars disappearance? Keith walked over to the filing cabinet, pulled out his keys which contained a skeleton key to the Dunstan 2000 cabinet and unlocked it. He flicked through the files quickly until he came across Kendall's, closed the cabinet, locked it back up and walked jauntily out of the building.

ooo

Veronica sat cross-legged on her bed, carefully watching the feed from the tape. She spotted Ophelia clinging to her Powerpuff Girls backpack. The comforter she had wrapped around her was warm and her eyelids began to droop as the day continued on the tape. She watched them play some kind of dancing game, before they began to colour.

Her eyelids closed further and she shook her head to wake herself up, yawning. It had been a long day, and she'd come home to find the twelve messages Logan had left on her phone. He'd pleaded with her meet him, call him… just talk to him. Her heart felt like it was shattering as she listened to them. She'd let her walls down, given in to him and left herself open and vulnerable. She kept thinking… _just get through the day, it won't be so bad_ – but the pain of ignoring him, missing him, needing him increased by the hour – not lessened.

She was just about to give up and get some sleep, when something caught her eye. She reached forward and rewound the video slightly, before hitting play. Ophelia stood by a table, as Jessica walked over. Jessica's body blocked her view of the little girl, but she suddenly moved swiftly, grabbing Ophelia's arm. It looked like she twisted it and then they both walked off camera, Jessica still holding on to her arm.

White hot anger spread through Veronica as she cut the sequence into a smaller file and burned it onto a disk.

ooo

"Of all the book joints, in all the towns, in all the world, he walks into mine," Mac joked as Wallace dropped down into the seat opposite her. She idly sipped from her bottle of water as Wallace raised his eyebrow.

"What's a dame like you doin' in a place like this?" Wallace said, playing along.

"Moping," Mac replied honestly. "And maybe a little studying."

Wallace nodded. "Damn." He paused, looking slightly nervous. "Wanna get some coffee?"

Mac hesitated briefly, before she smiled, flipping the book in front of her closed. "Sounds good."

ooo

"You said you got something," Weevil greeted, and pushed through the door into Veronica's apartment as she stepped back.

"Yeah," Veronica nodded, motioning for him to sit down in front of her laptop.

He frowned. "I didn't see Logan's big-bird-mobile outside."

Veronica shot him a guilty look. "I told him it was your day. Don't tell him, okay?" she pleaded. "It's just… difficult right now."

"What if something happened and…"

"I'm being careful," she protested. "Just watch the tape."

He reached forward and hit play. He watched the video with his total attention until it faded to black again. There was a moment of silence and Veronica was just about to say something when he slammed his fist down hard on the table. A mug on the other end toppled and fell, smashing.

Veronica bent down and began to clear it up. "I'm sorry," she said softly. He watched with a disconnected look on his face as she picked all the slivers up and wrapped them in damp paper towel.

He seemed to snap out of it as he asked, "The next step?"

"We take the proof to the Department of Children and Family Services. They hopefully take it seriously and launch an investigation. I did some research – they have twenty-four hours to get to the scene, so it's pretty quick. We can go today," Veronica suggested.

Weevil nodded. "My sister wouldn't listen when I told her not to let Ophelia go there today. She's so fixated on getting her degree."

Veronica nodded, looking serious. "Sometimes it can feel like it's the only way out."

Weevil regarded her with his sombre dark eyes. "Let's go."

ooo

"You have to listen," Veronica implored, following the brunette lady down the hallway at the Department of Children and Family Services. "Please – just watch the disk."

"Ms Mars, was it?" she said coolly, looking over her spectacles at Veronica, making Veronica feel like she was in elementary school all over again. "We need to collect our _own_ evidence."

"That's fine, as long as it gets stopped."

"It's not as easy as…"

"That's my niece," Weevil interrupted. "Someone's hurting my family."

The lady pursed her lips and let out a huff of air. "Why don't you both step into my office? We can start an investigation, but you'll have to answer some questions first."

They both nodded, grateful expressions on their faces.

"Thank you," Weevil said gruffly.

ooo

Veronica sat down heavily on the white plastic seat. The spiky plant next to her jabbed into her arm and she pushed the offending leaf away. She didn't come out onto the balcony often, except when her dad proclaimed it barbeque night – there were often other complex residents taking up all the space. That evening, however, it was empty, the chilling breeze driving people back into their warm apartments.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. It was moments like these, when she stopped to think, that it all came flooding back. She'd be listening to a lecture and suddenly she'd hear Logan asking her not to go. Students' faces would morph into his. His expression haunted her, followed every thought. She buried her face into her hands, trying desperately to keep breathing.

_This has to get better, right?_

She heard footsteps and looked up, her eyes widening when she saw her father standing there looking equally surprised to see her there. She hadn't realised he spent much time out on the balcony.

"Honey, are you okay?" he asked, sitting down in the seat next to her.

She nodded, fixing her brave little toaster expression on. "Just had a tough day."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Did she want to tell her father how she'd had sex the night before? Sex with the boy who had broken her heart last summer? The boy her father had, in fact, ordered to leave her?

_I think we'll pass on _that_ little father-daughter bonding._

"Weevil's niece…" Veronica explained.

Keith's expression turned disapproving at the sound of the ex-con's name.

"He found bruises on her arm. I put a camera in the nursery and saw her arm being twisted by one of the teachers. We had to try and convince the lovely people at the Department of Children and Family Services to take it up as a case."

"May I see?" Keith asked.

"See what?" Veronica asked in confusion.

"The video."

"Uh, sure. There's a copy on my laptop." She stood up and Keith followed her down the metal staircase. She pulled out her key and unlocked the door to their apartment. Veronica fetched her laptop and handed it to Keith. He began to watch the footage intently as Veronica flopped down on the sofa.

"So how was your day?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied distractedly, as he rewound the video and watched it again.

"Have any interesting cases?" Veronica prompted.

He glanced up at his daughter as he rewound the footage again. "Actually, Dick Casablancas came to see me."

Veronica's eyebrows raised. "Dick's back in town? What did he want?"

"Kendall's death was ruled suicide – which means he doesn't get an insurance payout," Keith informed her.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Oh no," she gasped out sarcastically. "What will he have to cut down on first? A new surfboard every week? Booze? Women?"

"I got Vinnie's file on the case. He, of course, denied that he took the case."

"Vinnie? Turning down that much cash? Not gonna happen."

Keith nodded with a smile. "Kendall wanted Clarence Weidman blackmailed, so he could protect her against the Fitzpatricks."

"What did she have on Clarence?" Veronica mused. She realised her father was confiding in her, talking to her about a case – something he hadn't done for awhile. She felt a warm glow as she curled up next to him.

"Aaron Echolls," Keith pointed out grimly.

Veronica frowned. "I don't…" Her expression changed to one of recognition. "Oh. You think the Kanes took a hit out on Aaron?"

Keith nodded. "Makes sense."

"And Kendall knew?"

"Kendall was an intelligent woman, no matter what people think. She had been with Aaron that night."

Veronica's nose wrinkled. "Yuck."

_She seemed to be a hit with all the Echolls men._

She paused, sitting back. "And the Fitzpatricks wanted her money – that's what she needed protection from?"

Keith nodded again. "She was worth millions, courtesy of Cassidy Casablancas." 

Veronica desperately fought not to flinch at the name. Sometimes she managed to disconnect herself from the name so well she felt nothing hearing it. Other times it caught her unaware and she had to fight not to react to it.

Veronica connected the dots in her head. "So you think Clarence killed Kendall, knowing she knew…"

"That seems likely," Keith sighed, leaning back. "I looked into Clarence's whereabouts the night of Kendall's death, and officially he was at a meeting in San Diego. When I did some further investigating, I couldn't find any hotel bookings, or confirmation of any such event."

"So you're going to tell Dick she _did_ kill herself?" Veronica guessed.

Keith hesitated. "I think it's for the best."

"Dick doesn't deserve the money anyway," Veronica said softly, before adding, "You should burn Vinnie's file."

Keith nodded in agreement. "Good idea." He motioned towards her laptop. "Look, Veronica," he said, slowing the footage down. She leaned forward. "Look closely. Weevil's niece…"

"Ophelia," Veronica offered.

"She steps back there," he pointed with his finger and Veronica squinted at the slightly grained footage. "She trips over the bag on the floor, and that woman… she grabs her arm to stop her from falling."

Veronica rewound the tape and watched carefully, before she turned to her father with a shocked expression. "She wasn't hurting her."

Keith shook his head. "I don't think so. Cases of abuse are so hard to prove, which is why most people get away with it." Veronica nodded, gritting her teeth.

"Cigarette burns and broken noses. Oh, the stories you used to tell."

"Have you tried looking closer to home?" Keith asked.

Veronica sat back, her arms folding around herself tightly. "Weevil's family?"

"It's a possibility. Do you want me to talk to Eli?"

Veronica shook her head. "No. I'll do it."

ooo

Weevil's eyes narrowed as Veronica showed him the slowed down version of the footage. The diner on campus she'd picked to meet him was quiet, and she resisted the urge to tap the table, clear her throat, _anything_, as he silently took in the information she was presenting him in.

"It's possible it's not anyone in the nursery," Veronica pointed out, as gently as she could.

He looked up sharply. "What do you mean? Of course it is. It's the only time she's away from family."

She continued to look at him, trying to find the words to make him understand what she was implying.

A flicker of anger crossed his face. "Oh, I see. The Spic family has to be beating their kid."

"I'm not saying that" she protested, "but isn't it possible…that maybe your sister…"

"You don't know her, so don't you dare go accusing members of my family. I asked for your help to get proof, not to go accusing us," he said, his voice raising. The waiter who was busy wiping down tables near them looked up in interest. Veronica glared at him, and he quickly began to look busy again.

"I'm not accusing anyone, I'm just saying it's possible…" Veronica said, keeping her voice as low and soothing as she could.

"No, it's not," he said firmly. "You're so quick to make judgements about my family, but you're not so high and mighty yourself. Using people until you can get the rich boy you really want."

"That's _not_ what happened," Veronica protested in annoyance. How dare he presume to know anything about her relationships?

"You think you're so much better than everyone, going about solving your pathetic little mysteries."

Veronica sat back, visibly stung.

"Just keep away from me, and keep away from my family. I'll protect her myself." He stood up and stalked off angrily, as Veronica watched him go, stunned.

ooo

"Well, if it isn't Veronica Mars."

Veronica spun around at the sound of Dick's voice, as she stepped out of the diner. Just the sound of his voice grated on her every nerve. She could smell the stench of alcohol, even at the distance he was standing. His shirt was crumpled with buttons missing, and the t-shirt underneath it was stained.

_Great, a conversation with the town drunk. That's all I need._

"Heard you were back in town," Veronica said evenly.

"Flying visit," he slurred.

"Good," Veronica replied.

Dick's expression twisted as he glared at her. "My little brother wouldn't have died if it wasn't for you."

A sliver of anger worked its way up her spine as she snapped, "I'm sorry, did I bring a gun to a rooftop meeting? No, that was your _little brother_. Although, he would have made you proud, what with giving me the choice to jump or get shot."

"Too bad it was Cassidy that went over the roof," Dick spat out.

"Yeah, sure – everyone wishes the serial killer lived," Veronica said, rolling her eyes.

"He needed help, not someone pointing fingers," Dick said angrily. "You just wanted to solve your damn mystery, no matter who you stepped on."

"He stopped being a victim when he started killing people," Veronica pointed out, remembering vividly the callous way Cassidy had laughed as she tearfully phoned her father to say goodbye. Who taunted her as she sunk to the floor, her entire world having been ripped away. Who'd shot at Logan. Who had _raped_ her and made a quip about Dick thinking he was a virgin when she'd confronted him about it.

"He was my brother," Dick said hoarsely.

"I know," Veronica said with a sigh as she turned and began to walk away.

"I hate you," he called after her retreating back.

ooo

Weevil quietly opened the door to his grandmother's house and listened carefully. He could hear Bob the Builder blaring out from the television set on in the other room. He stepped over a pile of toys, belonging to his brother's children. He peeked into the living room and saw Estrella asleep on the sofa, one of her large college books resting on her stomach. Ophelia and Juan were sitting in front of the TV, so near their noses were almost touching the screen.

"Hey, what did I say about sitting so close?" Weevil said, smiling as they both jumped up and ran to greet him excitedly.

"Uncle Eli, I drew you a picture," four-year-old Juan called as he ran off to fetch it.

"Show me in the kitchen," Weevil said as he ushered them both into the kitchen. "What do you wanna eat?"

"Pizza, please, Uncle Eli," Ophelia begged.

"If you have something green with it," he said, scooping her up and putting her on the counter. As he did so, something dark caught his eye. He lifted the bottom of her pants up and scowled at the dark bruise running up her leg. The nursery had been closed that morning for investigation – Ophelia and Estrella had been home all day and the bruise looked fresh.

"Who did that?" he asked softly. She immediately looked away, looking upset. He placed her on the floor again. "You and Juan play in the yard a bit while I make dinner," he said, opening the back door for them. He closed it behind them and stalked back into the living room.

"Estrella," he shouted harshly. "We need to talk."

ooo

Veronica winced as she saw Logan sitting outside her apartment, leaning against the wall. Perhaps if she turned quietly now, he wouldn't notice her, but then he looked up – fixing her with his intense gaze, before he stood. She sighed.

"Come to yell at me too?" she asked dully, unlocking her door.

"Should I? Will that get your attention?" he asked, following her into the apartment.

She laughed harshly. "Oh, believe me – you have my attention. I wish you didn't."

"I get it, Veronica," he said, "I really do. But would you just listen to me? Give me a chance?"

Her strength felt like it had left her as she sank down on the sofa. She didn't have the energy to argue with him, or tell him to go away. Her eyes fixed on a photo frame on the wall, just to give her something to look at that wasn't Logan's desperate expression.

"I hurt you this summer," Logan began. "It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last time. I seem to be a monumental screw-up when it comes to anything to do with you."

"Not really selling it here, Logan," Veronica said tiredly, as she pulled off her boots from her aching feet.

"But I'm trying," he said. "I've stopped drinking, I've got a job. I've cared for you and loved you and you've pushed me away." Veronica's eyes widened as he continued, "I don't know what else I to do. I don't know what else I _can_ do, because I think I've proved myself to you." He gestured helplessly towards her. "I'm not going to walk out of your life, but I need to know."

It was true. She'd never been so proud of him. He'd impressed her before, but she'd never seen him try to do an entire 180 and sort his life out the best he could. With a start she realised she'd never told him how she felt. Why was it so damn hard just to say, 'I'm really proud of you, Logan'?

"Need to know what?" she asked quietly.

"If that was it," he said simply. "If you don't think we've got a chance of making it work. If you can never lo…" his voice caught as before he managed to choke out, "love me, say now. I want this – I want us. But I don't want to pressure you if you don't. I'll back off, just say the word. I'll give you all the time and space you need - I just need to know what you're thinking."

Veronica hesitated, a flutter of panic beginning in her stomach, the same old issues spinning in her head.

"I just need to know," the tremble in his voice betraying the depth of his emotion.

Veronica could only stare at him mutely.

ooo

_TBC…_

I'd _love_ to know what people think. Feedback makes my soul tingle. :)


	10. Coda

Wallace wandered slowly across the lawn that stretched in front of the blackened shell of a building. It was normally a tranquil place, with a few students sunbathing or reading books. There were a number of picnic benches scattered across the lawn that were popular at lunch.

Tonight however, there wasn't a spare bit of grass that didn't have someone sitting, lying or even crying on it. Many of them were in skimpy party outfits, shivering in the cool night air.

Each face was unfamiliar as he scanned them, panic growing in the pit of his stomach. He winced as someone a girl was led past him, sporting burns on her bare arms and dark soot covering her face.

It was hard to hear anything over the firemen as they shouted to one another – trying to secure the building as much as they could. He pulled out his cell phone and called Veronica again. It rang and rang, but no one answered.

"Wallace!"

He turned at the desperate voice that rose above the background noise and felt a flicker of relief as he saw Mac standing there, until he realised her face was tearstained. His heart leapt up to his throat again as he walked around a girl to meet her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, putting his hands on her arms.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said, fresh tears streaking down her face. He pulled her into his arms, hushing her. Over his shoulder, he saw a police officer walk over to stand by a roped-off area. He squinted into the darkness and realised the area roped-off contained three body bags. Another officer bent over and yanked the silver zip up over a burnt face, as Wallace's mouth dropped open in horror.

OOO

_Three Days Earlier._

"I just need to know," Logan pleaded. Veronica stared at him, unable to form a response.

She sighed, leaning her chin into the palms of her hands.

"We always hurt each other," Veronica said quietly. That was the end result, in Veronica's opinion, of their problem. They seemed to have a competition on who could inflict the most pain on the other.

Logan looked surprised, before he dropped down in the seat next to her. He took her hand gently, rubbing his finger across her knuckles. "Only because we know each other so well. Only because we've been too messed up in the past. We're not now."

"What if you leave me?" she asked honestly. She shook her head. "I couldn't do it again."

"I won't leave you. And you have to promise to stop running from me, too," he said.

She glanced up at him. "I can't help it!" she protested. "Sometimes – I just need space."

"I know that," Logan replied. "But sometimes I don't know if you'll come back."

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It's just hard, you know?"

"I know."

"I don't want us to be like… you know, you and Lilly," Veronica pointed out. "On again, off again."

"We won't," Logan said firmly.

"You broke my heart," Veronica said softly.

Logan paused, squeezing her hand softly. "Maybe we should call it even."

Veronica nodded after thinking for a second. "Yeah, I think we could do that."

They both leaned back into the sofa, their arms pressed together. Veronica could feel the warmth coming from his body through the thin material of her shirt. She bit her lip.

She couldn't keep running.

Veronica reached towards him and gently turned his face so he was facing her. She licked her lips that had gone suddenly dry as she leaned forward, nerves battling away in her stomach. She swallowed hard before she pressed her lips against his.

A desperate sigh left him as the kiss deepened, his tongue slipping into her mouth. Her stomach twisted, desire for him strengthening. It quickly intensified, as her arms snaked around his neck. His hands grasped her hips, drawing her close. His tongue slid across her lips as their mouths moulded together.

They pulled apart, and she could feel his hot breath on her skin as they gasped for oxygen. He gave her one of his nervous half-smiles – the one where her insides usually turned into liquid.

"Let's try again," he whispered.

"Try the kissing again?" she joked. "Okay..." she moved nearer until he laughed and caught her arms gently.

"Us," he clarified. "Go on a date with me?"

She froze, looking down at the floor.

"It will be okay," he assured.

She looked up. "When?"

OOO

As soon as she reached the parking lot, she saw Weevil on the other side. She frowned, drawing her jacket around herself tighter. She hadn't expected him to continue with the job. She reached her car, unlocked it and opened the door.

The smell hit her immediately. The chemicals used at car dealers to clean car interiors. She narrowed her eyes, surveying the insides. Everything was sparkling.

Veronica walked around the car to put her bag in the trunk. She lifted it up and looked towards the new black bag that had appeared. She unzipped it and looked curiously at its contents. A shiny car jack took up the left hand side, while various cleaning accessories filled the rest. She noticed a tyre pressure gauge and a flashlight in addition. She closed the trunk and turned, catching Weevil's eye.

She smiled at him gratefully, and he nodded back. She climbed into the car and started the engine smoothly. An engine tune-up too. He _must _have been feeling guilty for his harsh comments.

She sighed, thinking of his sweet little niece as she pulled out of the lot. It was one time she hated being right.

OOO

With difficulty, Veronica shifted her bag, books and cup of coffee into her left hand, as she quickly knocked on the door with her right. She bit down on her set of keys, holding it with her teeth as she swapped the coffee back before she dropped it. She winced as a little trickled out and burnt her fingers. Classes started in half an hour, and she'd agreed the night before to walk with Mac.

_Having to be on campus before nine in the morning should be illegal._

The door swung open and Mac stood there in a fluffy robe. "Want any help?" her friend greeted, pulling a few books out of her arm. Veronica took the keys out of her mouth, pulling a face at the metallic tang they left as she followed Mac into her room.

"Thank you," Veronica said gratefully.

"Take a seat," Mac offered. "Just gotta get changed." She disappeared into the en-suite bathroom as Veronica relaxed into Mac's computer chair.

"I heard a rumour about you," Veronica called through the door.

"Oh?" Mac replied, her voice slightly muffled.

"That you have a date tomorrow and didn't tell me."

Mac laughed through the door. "Well, I was trying to keep it on the down-low. See how it went. How did you find out?"

"Ran in to Matt," Veronica said with a smile. "He was about to burst with joy."

There was a pause before Mac asked, "So, I take it you heard the news?"

"What news?" Veronica asked back, flicking through her text book. Silence greeted her and she lost track of the conversation as she scanned the words. The door opened and Mac stood there in jeans and a t-shirt.

"_The _news," Mac said in confusion. "They arrested the Hearst rapist."

"What?" Veronica spluttered, spitting out a mouthful of coffee.

"You haven't heard?" Mac queried in shock. "_I_ know something before Veronica Mars?"

"Mac," Veronica warned. "Who?"

"Wallace's roommate – Ross Smith."

OOO

"Dad?" Veronica called as she hurried into her apartment. She put her bag down on the counter top. "Dad!" she called again in exasperation.

His bedroom door opened and Keith walked out, still tucking his shirt in. "Honey? What's wrong?"

"Wallace's roommate was arrested," she said breathlessly.

"I know, honey. They called me this morning." Off her look he quickly clarified, "_After _you left."

"Has he admitted anything?" Veronica asked.

Keith shook his head. "So far, he's not saying anything – but he's refusing to give a DNA sample."

Veronica's eyebrows raised. "Guilty as charged."

Keith gave her a small smile. "Let's hope so. And let's also hope he gives us leads to the other two."

Veronica gave him a shaky smile in return.

"What makes them think it was him?"

"He was seen talking to one of the victims the night she was assaulted, and then more people stepped forward to say they'd seen him at other parties."

Veronica frowned as she grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. She took a sip of the cool liquid before she said carefully, "I'm going on a date tonight."

"Oh?" Keith said, flicking through some paperwork.

"Yeah. With Logan."

He looked up quickly, a startled expression on his face before he let out a puff of air.

"I don't even know why I'm surprised," he said. "Are you sure?"

She nodded firmly. "Yeah, I am."

OOO

"_Got any lipgloss?" _

_Veronica looked down and was surprised to find she was holding a purse she'd used in eighth grade. It had been her favourite – denim with different size buttons along the edge. She'd used it no matter which outfit she was wearing, until it had eventually worn apart. She spotted the plastic tube in the top compartment, and pulled it out. _

"_Thanks," Lilly said breezily, taking it from her and opening the top. She slid the tube across her full lips, before she turned to Veronica. "What do you think?"_

"_Of all the places to visit me..." Veronica said, giving the bathroom a look of distaste. "Neptune High?"_

_Lilly laughed, her nose wrinkling as she smoothed down the slightly too-tight red party dress she was wearing. "I don't really know what I was thinking," she admitted. "Old times sake?" She lifted her hand and smoothed down a stray strand of hair and gave herself an appraising look. "Let's get out of here."_

_Veronica glanced back at her own reflection, her long hair was wavy – the style she preferred to wear it recently. She was dressed simply in jeans and a blue t-shirt. _

"_Come on!" Lilly called and Veronica hurried after her, stepping through the open door. She expected to find the hallway with rows of lockers lining it that she had walked down a million times before, but instead she found herself in her old back garden. _

_The swimming pool was glinting in the bright sunshine, highlighting the array of colours. Aqua and cerulean hues, bleeding into one another. Slivers of silver flashed where the rays hit the surface, like oil, unable to sink or mix with the tempting cool liquid. _

_Veronica realised her outfit had changed into a yellow sundress, and her hair was straight down like a curtain framing her face. It felt foreign - a completely different identity. _

_She turned to look at Lilly, who had sprawled out on the white sun lounger and was busy applying lotion to her pale legs._

"_Sit down," Lilly commanded, and just like the shy girl that followed Lilly's lead so long ago, Veronica did as she was told. _

_The back door opened and her mother, father and herself stepped out. Keith was dressed in his Sheriff's uniform and Lianne turned to her family with a smile. "Why don't you two go and get in the car? I forgot my purse."_

_Veronica gave her family a longing look, fighting the urge to look away. She drank in the way her mom brushed her hand over her younger self's arm sweetly, and the way her dad looked at Lianne with love shining in his eyes._

_Lianne stepped back into the kitchen as the other two disappeared towards the garage. Through the window, Veronica saw her walk over to the fridge._

"_Thought you were happy then, didn't you?" Lilly said quietly. "Things aren't always what they seem."_

_Veronica gave her a curious look. "Why can't you ever just tell me what you mean?"_

_Lilly shot her a dazzling smile. "Where would the fun be in that?" She stood up and walked over to the pool, dipping her toe in which casting shimmering ripples across the surface. "This Ross dude – total loner, right?"_

_Veronica nodded. "Seems like it."_

"_So where did he get his other two friends from?"_

_Veronica was about to reply when she realised the swimming pool had gained some people while she hadn't been looking. She spotted Stacy and Dawn swimming at the other end, as well as Fiona and Anna splashing each other. Veronica looked away, the weight that had lifted when she heard Ross had been arrested feeling heavy again._

"_Make the connections," a familiar voice said, and her head snapped back to see Meg sitting in the seat Lilly had been in. She was slender again, unlike the last time she had seen her, pale in a hospital bed with an enlarged stomach. She looked incandescent, her blonde hair shining and her face alight with a healthy glow._

_Meg leaned forward and put her hand on Veronica's arm. "Money always belongs to the wealthy."_

"_Oh and Veronica?" Lilly called. "Have fun on your date."_

OOO

Veronica jerked awake, breathing heavily. She glanced at her alarm clock and realised with a start she only had twenty minutes left before Logan arrived. She jumped out of bed and rushed headed towards the shower, yawning. She hadn't even meant to fall asleep – just lay down for a minute or two.

She showered in a record two minutes and just about managed to be ready on time, wearing the dress she'd bought for graduation.

The doorbell rang just as she was shoving her keys, phone and other essentials into a purse. She opened her bedroom door. Keith had almost reached the door.

"Dad, stop," she said, walking up to him.

Keith turned to look at her, and smiled. "Honey, you look beautiful," he said.

She gave him a smile back before she put her hand on his arm. "Let me answer the door, okay?"

Keith stepped back. "Have fun, Veronica."

Veronica opened the door and a smile flitted across her face. He was studying his shoes intently, brown eyes shy, before he glanced up. For a moment, his gaze was electric and she shivered at the intensity. The moment passed and she held back a snicker as he began to nervously pull at the sleeves of his dark green shirt.

"Hey," he said.

She stepped out the doorway and closed it firmly behind her.

"You look stunning, Veronica," he complimented. He held out his hand to her. She hesitated for a second, before she wrapped her fingers around his, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"So where exactly are we headed?" Veronica asked as they walked towards the X-Terra parked outside the complex.

"I thought we could get some dinner at Garfunkles, which I do believe is your favourite restaurant. And then after… well, there's a party that pretty much everyone on campus is going to. A celebration that the sick freak is finally behind bars." He paused. "We don't have to go if you don't want to…"

"No," Veronica said. "It sounds good."

OOO

The students were all in high spirits, using the opportunity to get as wasted as possible. The make-shift dance floor was packed. Veronica laughed as Logan twirled her around to the loud music playing. Logan's eyes were sparking and his mood infectious. He dipped her, and she almost collided with someone else dancing.

"Sorry!" he called.

"Let's stop for a drink," Veronica suggested. He nodded, and she led the way into the kitchen. She glanced around the worktop that was overflowing with all different kinds of drinks.

"Having fun?" he asked. She stepped closer to him, and leaned up on her tiptoes. His hands closed around her waist as they kissed, the drinks forgotten,

"Break it up, kids," a voice called and Veronica looked up.

"Oh, hi, Beth... I mean, Veronica…" Michael greeted.

Veronica nodded in greeting. "Lost any games of poker recently?" she asked glibly.

His chest puffed in annoyance. "Not likely. I still think you were cheating, Princess."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Right. Lose to a girl and they _have _to be cheating."

"Want a rematch?"

Veronica glanced up at Logan, the desperate need to prove the guy wrong gnawing at her insides. Logan opened his mouth and she shook her head.

"I don't need to prove anything to you," she said firmly.

Just then a girl stumbled into the kitchen, swaying on her four inch Jimmy Choos. She stepped forward and tripped over a case of beer and slamming into Michael. The drink in her hand was flung forward, splattering across the front of his jacket.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed. "Thanks a lot."

Logan grabbed hold of the girl, steadying her.

"Are you okay?" Veronica asked. The girl frowned at her unsteadily.

"Charlotte! I can't take you anywhere!" another girl laughed, following her into the kitchen. She grabbed Charlotte's hand. "Let's get you home."

She dragged the drunken girl out the kitchen. Veronica turned back to Michael who had taken his jacket off and was shaking the excess liquid off of it.

"Great," he groused angrily.

He stalked out of the kitchen, his face like thunder.

Logan smirked at Veronica. "Nice guy."

Veronica nodded. "Real charmer." She glanced down and caught sight of something lying on the floor. She bent down and scooped it up.

"What's this?" she asked, holding the small vial up.

Logan grimaced, looking ill. "GHB."

Veronica's mouth dropped open as she glanced in the direction Michael left. Her stomach twisted with panic. What if he was planning on hurting someone that night?

"Logan…" she began.

He nodded. "I'm with you."

They rushed back into the main room and scanned the students for Michael. Veronica glanced at Logan with a worried look. Logan nodded towards a doorway on the other side of the room. They both began to weave through the crowd towards it. Logan managed to reach it first and peeked in. He turned back to her and nodded.

Veronica reached him and they walked away from the door, so he couldn't hear them.

"He's playing poker," Logan said.

Veronica pursed her lips. "We don't have any proof at the moment," she said. "If we could look around his room…"

"What if he leaves the party?" Logan pointed out.

"You stay here," Veronica said. "Play cards with him – stall him. I'll go to the frat, have a look around. Call me if he leaves."

"How will you know room is his?" Logan asked.

"I'll call Mac, get her to look it up on the Pi Sigma housing database. I have a copy of it at home, but I don't have time…"

Logan shook his head looking tense. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone."

"I'll call Wallace, he can come with me." Logan continued to look worried. "I have my taser too. I'll call at the first sign of trouble." She pulled out her phone and shot a text message off to Wallace asking him if he could meet her there. "Go on," she said to Logan, gesturing towards the poker room. He put his hand on the door handle and was just about to go in when Veronica said, "Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"You better win." She gave him a small smile and hurried off.

OOO

"Number six? You sure?" Veronica queried. She spotted Wallace leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. She waved and he stood up straight with a grin in her direction.

"Totally sure," Mac replied on the cell phone.

"Thanks, Mac. I owe you one." Veronica hung up just as she reached Wallace.

"So what's the big scandal this time?" Wallace asked. "And will I be getting paid?"

"Paid? No. Scandal – huge. Remember when we were at that party with everyone and you left when we went to play poker?" They walked around to the back of the house as they talked, looking for a way in.

Wallace nodded. "Yeah…"

"Well, we bumped into one of the guys we were playing with today. A girl spilled a drink on his jacket, and when he shook it – he dropped a vial of GHB." Wallace's eyes widened as she continued, "Logan's stalling him at the party now. We're gonna break in and see what we find in his room."

They reached the back door and Veronica twisted the handle. The door didn't budge. She dropped down to her knee, pulled out a pair of gloves, a screwdriver and a paperclip from her bag. She began to pick the lock as Wallace kept a watch out. The lock turned and Veronica stood up, dusting her knees down.

"Can you go in first? If they see you, you can say you're looking for someone… They know me."

Wallace nodded walked through the door quietly. After thirty seconds, he poked his head back round the door. "All clear."

Veronica followed him through as they walked quickly through the hallway. They found Michael's room and Veronica picked the lock again. The door once again gave way and they quickly went in the room. The room smelled musty, like damp clothes that hadn't dried properly. Veronica walked over to the open curtains and drew them, before she flicked the table lamp on.

The room was generally tidy, with the exception of a few piles of books on his desk and a large pile of clothes in one corner. A large sound system sat on the long desk, as well as a TV and a computer. Rows of DVDs and CDs lined the bookshelves. An array of video game consoles lay on the floor in front of the computer.

Wallace whistled under his breath. "Why are the evil always rich?" he asked.

Veronica shrugged. "Because they just take what they want. Don't touch anything," she warned. "I don't have any more gloves with me. Don't want our fingerprints anywhere."

She bent down and began to make her way through his drawers. Wallace wandered towards the computer than was on the desk. The screen was lit and the soft whirl of the fans spinning filled the room. Using his sleeve to cover his hand, he moved the mouse.

"Nice computer," Wallace commented.

Veronica's phone buzzed and she read the text message.

'_Couldn't keep him. He left. Sorry. On my way.'_

"Shit," Veronica swore. "He might be on his way home now."

Wallace looked uneasily towards the door as Veronica quickened her search, rifling his sock drawer, grimacing at his underwear drawer and flicking through the piles of computer equipment.

"Come on, Vee."

"Wait," Veronica said under her breath. "There has to be something."

The sound of a door slamming made them both jump and Veronica jumped up. They listened with their hearts hammering in their chests as footsteps approached the door. Veronica bit down on her lip as they got closer, then could have cried with relief as they carried on down the hallway and they heard a door further along clicking shut.

"That's it, we're out of here," Wallace said, walking towards the door.

"One more minute," Veronica begged, opening the final drawer.

"Veronica…" Wallace said, in his warning voice until she stood up straight with a triumphant expression and a clear plastic bag in her hand.

"Electric shaver," she said, holding the bag further up to inspect it. "What looks like locks of hair and some more vials of GHB."

"Thank god," Wallace said as Veronica pulled out her camera phone and took pictures of the evidence. "Let's go."

OOO

The police station was quiet until Veronica, Wallace and Logan burst in. Cliff stood up immediately from where he was waiting on the hard chairs, his briefcase in hand. Deputy Sacks looked up with interest as the amount of people suddenly arriving.

"This better be good, Veronica," Cliff greeted. "I was at the Seventh…"

"Don't need to know what you do your spare time, Cliff," Veronica grimaced. "And yeah, it's pretty good. We've got evidence to get your court-appointed client Ross Smith off the hook."

Cliff's eyebrows raised. "The DNA test is scheduled for tomorrow…"

"Don't need it." Veronica placed her phone down on the counter. "Is Lamb here, Sacks?" she asked.

Sacks nodded. "He's in his office." He walked off towards the door as they waited for him to return.

"Veronica Mars," Lamb said, strolling out of his office. "Saviour of kittens, defender of losers, pain in my ass. What do you want?"

"Oh, you know. Just doing your job for you again," Veronica responded, like she was talking to a small child.

Lamb frowned as he glanced down at the phone.

"Gonna show me your dirty pictures?" he asked with a smirk.

Veronica picked up the phone and opened up the pictures, before handing it to Lamb. "What you see belongs to Michael Withers. He lives at number six, the Pi Sigma frat house on Hearst campus. Have you got that, or do you want me to write it down for you?" She made a scribbling gesture with her hand and Logan smirked.

"And how exactly did you _get _these pictures?"

"Um… I plead the fifth?" Veronica said with a shrug. "They can be deleted," she warned, snatching the phone back from him. "Come on, Lamb! You can have all that glory you so desperately desire. Think of the headlines – 'diligent town sheriff cracks Hearst rape case'."

Lamb sighed painfully, looking like he was weighing his options. "Sacks?" he called. "Get a warrant, go down to the fraternity, collect the bag with the shaver in and get it to the lab for fingerprinting, DNA test the hair and get another warrant out for Michael Withers arrest."

"And about my client…" Cliff began.

"We'll start on the paperwork now for bail," Lamb promised with an exasperated look at having to actually do something. "He'll have to be back tomorrow for the DNA test to clear him officially."

Lamb stalked off, the door to his office slamming behind him.

Wallace lifted his hand up and Veronica high-fived it. "It can't ever get old, getting one over on Lamb," Wallace commented.

"Never," Veronica replied with a grin.

Cliff began to sort the paperwork out with one of the deputies as Sacks led Ross out of the cells.

"Can we go before I have to talk to him?" Wallace murmured to Veronica.

"Go ahead," she said. "I just wanna ask him something."

"I'll wait," Logan put in. Wallace nodded and headed out to the car.

"Ross?" Veronica asked, as Ross signed a form. He looked up, looking startlingly different after he'd shaved his own hair to send to Courtney Love. He still looked like he needed a good wash, Veronica decided. "I was just wondering… why did you refuse to give the DNA test?"

Ross pushed the papers back towards the deputy and motioned for her to come closer, after the deputy walked off to the process the paperwork.

His eyes were wide as he said quietly, "I didn't want them to find, you know…"

Veronica's nose wrinkled as she accidentally breathed in a lungful of Ross's halitosis.

_I hope his first stop is to go and find a bottle of Listerine._

"Find what?" Veronica asked.

_That you're a grade A weirdo?_

"The blow, the acid…"

Veronica blinked in surprise at him. "You do know drugs wouldn't show up on a DNA test?" she pointed out.

Ross frowned, as he shook his head. "Awesome." He saluted her as he followed Cliff out the door.

"Find out what you needed to know?" Logan asked, from where he was waiting by the door.

"Yeah. Some people should have _never_ made it into college," Veronica replied.

OOO

Logan nervously smoothed down his shirt and then checked his watch. Two minutes to go. He walked over to the stove, grabbed some oven mitts and pulled the door open. The warm smell of the pasta evaded his senses as he pulled it out. He'd gone with a pasta bake, which was simple to cook and looked flashier than it actually was. He placed it on the table he'd set up, with a white table cloth and a vase of flowers in the middle. Yes, he was a secret romantic. Yes, she'd probably laugh in his face. Yes, he felt like an idiot.

The doorbell rang and he jumped, his stomach twisting uncontrollably. He hit himself in the forehead as he walked towards the door.

"When did I turn into a twelve year old girl?" he murmured to himself.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. Veronica stood there holding a dish. Her hair was softly curled around her face and she was dressed in a silken camisole top and jeans. He longed to reach out and yank her into his arms, but he doubted she'd appreciate it.

"I made banoffee pie," she said brightly. "No one ever knows what it is, but it's seriously the best thing ever."

"So what exactly i is /i it?" Logan asked with a smile, backing up to let her in.

"It's got a crumbly base, and then toffee and banana filling, with cream on top," Veronica explained.

Her eyes widened as she glanced over the table. She turned back towards him and he swallowed thickly as she walked slowly towards him, pushing the forgotten pie on the table. She reached him and cupped his face with her warm hands, leaned up and kissed him soundly.

His hands closed around her slender stomach, as his tongue slid across her soft slips. She groaned, and it was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard.

"Let's skip the main course," she whispered, breaking away from him, "and get right to the good stuff."

"Can't argue with that," he said, bending down and swinging her up into his arms. She laughed before their lips met again, as Logan hurried towards his bedroom as if his life depended on it. He swayed, the anticipation getting to him, and knocked her foot against the doorway.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He lay her down on the bed, and standing, he yanked his shirt over his head and threw it over his shoulder. Veronica got up on her knees, and began to pull at his belt. His hands joined hers and she giggled as they fumbled over the clasp until it came loose. She leaned back and he playfully slapped her hands away, wanting to take his time removing her jeans, shuddering as his fingers slipped off her black lace panties. Logan crawled onto the bed, up and over her until they were face to face once more, smiling softly as he gently kissed her.

He ran his finger across her cheekbones, marvelling that he finally got the girl. That she was wrapped around him, smelling of mango and melon, from some girly shampoo she used. After picturing the scene a million times in his mind, it seemed too good to be true. Logan's mind leapt back to the present as he felt her hand wrap around his biceps, impatiently trying to draw him closer. He gave her a languorous smile and started a slow slide down her body, his hand trailing over her camisole. Pushing up the thin cotton, Logan swept his tongue across her hip bone. She jerked in response and the hot breath of his quiet laughter warmed her skin as he continued further down, slowly sliding her legs apart.

He kissed her silken inner-thigh, tracing patterns across the sensitive skin as she moaned, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Logan, please," she said, her breath hitching. "I need you now." He reached out and pulled the drawer to the bedside cabinet open. He rummaged blindly around for a long moment, before finally producing a condom with a grateful look. He quickly tore it open and moved back up her body.

Her eyes widened as he cautiously moved into her. Her fingernails dug briefly into his arm as his gaze locked with hers. It was something he'd never experienced, but something he'd always strived to find in his life – that moment where the world melted away and just for a moment, in her curve of Veronica's arms, he felt peace.

"You okay?" he whispered, brushing a damp strand of hair off of her forehead.

She nodded as they slowly began to meet each other thrust for thrust. The pressure started low in his belly as he ran his thumb across her sensitive nub. He watched the emotions play across her face as she began to tense, moaning as she came, eyes unfocusing. Her muscles clamped around him, and his eyes closed as the sensation pushed him over the edge with her.

After a moment, Logan slowly rolled over, pulling her on top of him, worrying he was crushing her. She lay her head down on his chest as his fingers gently ran through her glossy hair.

OOO

Veronica had just finished carefully arranging the aerosol cream around the cake, and was about to add the sprinkles when there was a knock at the door. She pouted, looking at her dinner longingly. The knock sounded again, so she dropped the sprinkles in a huff and walked over to the door. She unlocked it, and Backup slowly padded towards it, looking curious.

"Hey, Veronica," Sarah said. "I hope you don't mind me dropping by."

"No, not at all," Veronica said, stepping back to let her through. "What brings you to this part of the neighbourhood?"

"Well… it's kind of embarrassing, really," Sarah said. Veronica motioned to the couch and Sarah sat down, smoothing down her skirt.

Veronica sat opposite her and smirked. "Do tell."

"I was at Nick's, but then the professor called him and asked him to go to a meeting at the college." Veronica nodded. "He'd been on his laptop, and I noticed he hadn't logged off. I just wanted to check my email before I left. There was this bank account open. Normally, I'd just close it… I don't care about stuff like that. But there was a _lot _of money in there. I'm talking over a million dollars."

Veronica's eyes widened. Sarah held out a piece of paper and Veronica took it from her.

"I googled the name of the bank, and it's not an American bank. It's in the Cayman Islands. I wrote down the bank account number. I was just wondering…"

"Why your boyfriend's so rich but has a job?"

Sarah nodded. "Right."

Veronica stood up and walked over to her laptop that was on the kitchen counter. "Just give me a sec." She logged into the Private Eyez website and typed in the bank details. The page loaded and she scanned the page, frowning.

"What?" Sarah asked, getting up and walking towards her.

"The bank account. It's registered in the name of Edison Dismas."

She continued typing as Sarah paced the floor behind her. "Edison Dismas is a name connected to the charities commission at the i _mayor's /i _ office," Veronica said in surprise. "Running a background check, he works in the accountancy department. I've got his number here."

She stood up and picked up her phone. She dialled the number in and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello, can I speak to Edison Dismas please?" Veronica asked. She paused, waiting for the reply. "Oh, really? I must have the wrong number. Sorry to bother you." She hung up the phone. "No such person."

"This is so weird," Sarah said. "Do false names normally have a background available?"

Veronica nodded. "If they do it right. The purpose of them is so the banks have someone to check on. No background available wouldn't work."

Veronica sat back down on the kitchen stool and began to look up the charities commission. After a moment she said, "Okay, the charities commission has a webpage. They have about seven different charities set up. Afterschool activities, a housing project, hospices, a medical program among others… They all seem to check out." She scanned the screen, before she stopped. "Well, well. What do we have here?"

OOO

"Did you know?" Veronica snapped, as soon as he opened the door that she knocked furiously on. Backup perched at her feet, growling furiously.

"Know what?" Toby asked, blinking blearily at her.

"So that's why you were working at the mayor's office. For access."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Veronica," Toby replied, scratching his head sleepily. "Now if you don't mind…"

"It's clever, really. Must have taken a _lot _of work and computer knowledge. You set up other accounts amongst the charity ones. When someone gives you a cheque to deposit, sure, sometimes you put it in one of the real accounts – that way no one notices. But then you often slipped it into one of the fake ones, right? One of the two accounts set up in the name of Edison Dismas. Nice guy. Married for six years, with two children. A house on Pleasant Valley. A job at the town hall. Oh! And doesn't exist."

Veronica scowled, folding her arms over her chest as Toby looked at her in stunned shock. "Then you went a little wrong… You left trails. My friend Mac? Can hack anything. And a peek into those bank accounts served interesting. Transfers from the fake charity account to you, Joshua Carson, Nicolas Blake and Michael Withers. Who, by the way, has just been arrested for the rape of four women."

Toby's mouth dropped open. "Veronica, I swear, I didn't know about that." He looked sheepish and uncomfortable as he added, "We weren't hurting anyone…."

"Not _hurting_ anyone?" Veronica replied shrilly. "What about all the charities you conned out of money?"

"It's _Neptune_. There are lines of rich people waiting to drop a few hundred thousand to get what they want."

Veronica shook her head in righteous anger. "Not anymore there aren't. My dad put a stop to it when he fired the head's of departments, but it seems your transfers haven't." She pulled on Backup's leash to leave, but at the last second turned around. "You know what? I trusted you. I'm so fucking stupid sometimes."

"_Nothing _about us was fake, Veronica," he said, looking wounded. "I swear, I loved you. But you were in love with Logan and how could I compete with that?"

Veronica shook her head, and stormed off.

OOO

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Veronica asked, as she and Sarah walked up the stairs to the second floor.

"Yes," Sarah bit out angrily. "I'm never dating again."

Veronica shot her a sympathetic look as she handed her an electronic bug. "I'll wait in the storage cupboard," she said, motioning towards the closed door nearby Nick's bedroom.

"Alright," Sarah replied, fixing the bug under her shirt. "I'll suggest we see a movie after the coffee, to try and buy more time."

Veronica gave her a smile as she opened the cupboard door. "Good luck!"

The cupboard smelled like cleaning products, and the slightly rancid odour of dirty mops that had just been shoved away after use. Veronica dusted off a box that had been left there, and sat down on it carefully. She turned the handheld receiver on to a low volume and listened as Sarah knocked on the door. She frowned when she heard Sarah greet Nick i _and_ /i Josh. They hadn't expected him to be there. A low feeling started in her gut, one of worry and trepidation. Had Toby told them what she knew? She'd known it was a bad idea going there, but anger and her need to confront him had won out.

She heard Sarah's voice rise, as she protested that she didn't know where Veronica was. Veronica bit her lip, turned the listening devise off and shoved it in her bag as she opened the door. She wasn't going to let her face the music alone. Her phone began to ring as soon as she reached Nick's door and she glanced down. Toby's name showed on the screen. She hit the reject button and knocked on the door.

"If it isn't Veronica Mars," Josh said, as he opened the door. His expression remained neutral, which seemed odd on someone who was normally joking or laughing about something.

"Is Sarah here?" she asked carefully. "I was supposed to be meeting her."

"Why don't you come in?" he said, stepping to the side. He still held the door in such a way she couldn't see in.

Veronica paused. "Well, I don't want to disturb you all."

Josh just remained looking at her, as she stood there. She slid her hand in her pocket and hit the speed dial to Logan's number as she stepped through the doorway. Her eyes went straight to Sarah who was standing on the other side of the room with a fearful expression. Nick was kneeling by her, stacking paper into a trash can, before he stood up. He reached to the side board and grabbed a can of gasoline.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, her voice sounding thick. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Veronica watched him apprehensively. All the evidence was going to go up in flames in a few seconds if she didn't do something.

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. ""Why couldn't you have just minded your own business and stayed away from Toby like we wanted you to?" he said, glaring at Veronica. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Josh was standing directly in front of the door, his arms folded. "He was even going to go back to you, until we gave _him _a little warning."

Veronica looked back at Nick as an image of the bruises on Toby's face flickered through her mind. Something in Nick's icy expression clicked in her mind. "Oh god, it was _you_!" she exclaimed. Her heart was pounding as she involuntarily took a step backwards. "_You_ attacked me."

Sarah gasped. "No – they wouldn't!"

"And the third person was Michael?" Veronica questioned. Her fingers wrapped around her taser in her bag.

"You can't take a bloody hint though, can you, Mars?" Josh said.

"All that just in case I found out about the charity theft?" Veronica spat out. "Ever heard of a post-it note? An email? Not almost bashing my skull in!"

Nick's thumb hovered over the button on the lighter.

"Nick, don't! Please!" Sarah begged, reaching up for the lighter. He pushed her out the way, and she landed on the bed as he dropped the lighter into the trashcan. It ignited instantly and Veronica put her arm up to her face to protect herself from the heat. Nick rushed across the room as Josh opened the door. He grabbed the large case that was by the door, that Veronica hadn't noticed until then. She stepped towards the door, until Josh grabbed her arm.

"Let us out of here," she said, trying to get past, as Sarah scrambled to her feet.

Nick had left as Josh smirked and shoved her backwards. She fell heavily against the trashcan, spilling the contents as the door slammed. The flames immediately began to spread as Veronica scrambled out the way, groaning at the pain in her hip. Sarah gripped the door handle and twisted it hurriedly.

"It's locked," she shrieked, hammering on the wood ineffectually.

Veronica coughed heavily as the black smoke rose in the room. The flames rose, catching onto the fabric curtains. Within a few seconds they were ablaze.

She limped across the room next to Sarah, wiping the moisture off her forehead that was gathering from the intense heat. Sarah continued to bang on the door, shouting for help. Veronica took a deep breath, choking on the hot smoke as she reached into her pocket and hung up the phone from Logan's call. She wanted to check if he was there or not, but at the same time was deeply terrified that he was. She quickly stabbed 911 in and held it to her ear.

"Sarah, get on the floor," she shouted, pulling the red-head next to her as they crouched by the thin strip under the door that was letting a minute amount of oxygen through. She rummaged through her bag for something to pick the lock, but came up with nothing.

She heard the operator's voice as the call connected, and over the loud roar of the fire she shouted the address. She looked towards Sarah who was shaking, tears streaming down her face. Looking over her shoulder, she winced at the bright flames that were engulfing everything in the room. The heat was unbearable, like standing in a full size oven waiting to be cooked to death. Her eyes were stinging, and streaming painfully.

"Veronica?" she heard Toby's voice shout.

"In here – it's locked!" Veronica yelled back, grabbing Sarah's arm. They both heard the lock twist. "Stand back," Veronica warned. The door slowly opened, as the two girls shielded themselves from a possible back draft. The curtain rail dropped onto the floor with a loud clatter as they both shot out the room, taking relief in the lungfuls of oxygen they gasped in.

"Come on," Toby said, helping them both to keep standing as best he could. "We have to get out of here. Are you okay?"

Veronica threw him a dark look as they began to hurry down the labyrinth of hallways. The fire alarm began, wailing incessantly. The sound made her ears ache in protest as she pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to alleviate the burning sensation.

"Wait," Sarah wheezed, "this way's blocked – it's a dead end. I got lost here before." She fell down to her knees suddenly, coughing violently. "I don't think I can walk back," she managed to say, her face resting in her hands.

"Come on," Veronica tried to motivate, leaning against the wall as Toby ran back to the end of the corridor. "Not much further."

"Where is everyone?" Sarah asked, looking at the closed dorm room doors, before breaking into another coughing fit.

Toby reached them again. "There's a party on the first floor, I saw it when I got here. Most people probably got out safely from there when the alarm went off." He motioned back the way he came, "We can't go back that way."

"Why not?"

Veronica sighed. "It's spread already?" She could still smell the thick, burning odour of the smoke drifting towards her.

"There must be fire exits," Toby insisted. "Let's keep on this way." He reached down and hefted Sarah to her feet.

Veronica pushed herself forward, limping after them. "Toby?" she said, and he turned to look at her as they continued slowly on. "Did you know they attacked me? Have you known all along?"

His expression registered shock as he shook his head. "Those bastards," he said through gritted teeth. "If I see them again."

"But you told them I knew about the thefts!" Veronica protested.

"I just… I just wanted them to get rid of the evidence," he said. "I didn't want _this_."

They reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner. They stopped suddenly and stared at the wall blocking them.

"I told you," Sarah cried. "Now we're fucking well trapped!"

Toby walked over to the wall, to where a fire extinguisher was mounted and pulled it off.

"Yeah, we are really gonna get back through those flames with that!" Sarah pointed out, angrily wiping her tears away with a black hand that smudged across her face.

"It's a start," he said defensively.

Veronica slowly slid down the wall as she emptied the contents of her bag onto the floor.

"Now is not the time to be looking for lipgloss," Sarah snapped.

"Sarah – shut up!" Veronica bit out as she looked through for something metal she could use. "Do you have a hair pin on you?" she asked hopefully. Sarah shook her head. "Oh, why did I bring the bag without my screwdriver with me?" she moaned out loud.

"Veronica," Toby said urgently, "it's reached the end of the next hallway."

"If we get into one of the rooms, we can smash the window – draw attention to ourselves," Veronica pointed out.

"I can try kicking it in," Toby suggested, walking over to the nearest door. He began pounding on it as Veronica picked up her phone and dialled 911 again. She alerted them to the fact they were trapped on the second floor.

The door opened with a bang and Toby held out his hand to Veronica.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, staggering to her feet.

They closed the door when they'd all made it through with relief. Veronica and Sarah sunk down on the bed, struggling to keep breathing through their raw throats. Toby rushed to the window and opened it, only to find a safety catch on it, only letting it open a few centimetres.

"Fucking colleges, with their fucking health and safety bullshit," he yelled, while kicking the wall in protest. He grabbed a book lying discarded on the desk and threw it at the window.

"Fuck," he exclaimed again, when the book dropped uselessly to the floor.

"Reinforced," Veronica pointed out groggily, her head feeling fuzzy and light. She longed to lie down and just let herself slip away into the grey fog clouding her mind, even though the loud thuds coming from the window as Toby threw everything in the room at the window. He finally spotted the TV, and yanked the cord out the socket. He picked it up, and with all his strength threw it at the window. The window cracked and he began to work at using the book to clear the shards away from the edges.

"Help," he yelled out the window, towards the people gathered on the front lawn. Fire engines were parked, and firemen were preparing to go in the building. Thick black smoke filtered in under the door, and the room was getting hotter and hotter. The scent of the smoke was so overwhelming, Veronica could taste it, and she swallowed convulsively.

She glanced over to Sarah who had given in and lay down on the bed. She realised with a jolt her eyes were closed and she couldn't hear her breathing any more. The skin that wasn't dirty from the smoke had an almost wax-like quality to it.

"Sarah," she hissed, shaking her shoulder. "Sarah!"

Toby had managed to attract the attention of the onlookers and turned around.

"She's not breathing," Veronica said hopelessly. She broke into a coughing fit as she tried to check Sarah's pulse. Toby leaned across her as he took over.

"I can't feel anything," he said, panic clear in his voice. "What should we do?" They heard a clattering of a ladder being leaned against the wall by the window. He rushed over. "We need help!" he shouted. "They're motioning for us to climb down. Logan's down there as well."

Veronica's heart jumped at his name as she tried to get to her feet. "Go down there, tell them she needs a paramedic," she said.

"Veronica," he said, gently taking her arm and steering her to the window. "You need to go down there now and get out the smoke. You were in the same room she was. _You _need medical attention."

"Toby…" she protested.

"Go on, I'll be fine." He helped her over to the window, and practically lifted her onto the ladder. "Just hold on tightly. If you think you're going to fall, carry on gripping the rungs and let yourself slide down."

With shaking hands, she began to slowly step down the ladder. She glanced over her shoulder and spotted Logan who was being held back by two police officers. Her hands ached and her hip throbbed where she'd hit the floor. Her lungs felt like they'd been dipped in acid. The voices shouting support blurred out as she took one step at a time, trying desperately not to fall. She couldn't even remember reaching the ground, just Logan's arms being around her as she coughed, trying to tell them about Sarah.

"They'll get help," a fireman promised her. She pulled away from Logan as she spotted Lamb striding across the grass.

"Wait," she said weakly, and he turned towards her.

"Not looking so hot, Mars," he greeted.

"It was Joshua Carson and Nicolas Blake. They started the fire, trying to hide evidence they were stealing from the charities commission at the mayor's office. You need to stop them…" She broke into another hacking cough as Logan put his arm around her, and she let herself fold into his arms.

OOO

"Veronica?" she heard, the second she opened her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but found an oxygen mask covering her mouth. She could feel his strong hand wrapped around her own.

"Shh, it's okay. Don't speak," Logan said. "We're at the hospital."

She reached up and pulled her mask off, wincing as her sore skin pulled on her hands. "Sarah? Is she okay?"

Logan looked down, giving Veronica the answer she wanted.

"Oh no," she murmured, her eyes burning with unshed tears. "Where's Toby?"

Logan continued to look uncertain, his grip around her hand tightening ever so slightly.

"Logan?" she prompted.

"He didn't make it. By the time they got a lift over to the window, the fire had spread and the smoke inhalation was too bad. I'm so sorry."

Her eyes closed again.

She was woken later as Wallace and Mac arrived. She kept her eyes shut as they greeted each other, a dark atmosphere hanging over them like a cloud. She listened as he updated them on her condition.

"One other person was trapped in the fire. They think he had his headphones in while he slept and didn't hear the alarm," Wallace told Logan.

"Apparently Nick and Josh tried to use fake IDs at the airport, and were held in security, luckily. I'm going to the station from here to try and prove what they were doing, without getting _myself_ in a lot of hot water," Mac said with a small laugh. She sighed, leaning forward. "Why does something horrible have to happen every year?"

Wallace patted her back awkwardly. "It's Neptune?" he offered.

There was awkward silence before Veronica asked "Where's my dad?" She winced as she discovered just how sore her throat really was.

Logan leaned towards her, gently stroking her face. "He's on his way," he assured.

Just then, the door opened hurriedly. Veronica started in surprise as she looked up. "What are _you _doing here?" she gasped.

_fin_

Anyway, thank you so so much to everyone that has stuck around from the first chapter. Especially those that gave me feedback, as it's what kept me going half the time. I'd so love to hear your thoughts on the ending. And you can't all lynch me for the L/V ending this time, after people weren't too thrilled with **Kaleidoscopic**'s ending! So, if you've never left me a comment before to say you've been reading - I'd love to hear from you now. Pretty please?


End file.
